WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Kansas is a big place.
In terms of size, Kansas is 81,823 sq miles, larger than 37 other states, including most of its neighbors, with the exception of Colorado. Data from the Census Bureau shows there are 671 incorporated and unincorporated communities in Kansas where people live.
Many of these communities have names associated with their founders or historical figures, such as Ulysses or Lincoln. Others have names of Native American or even French origin, like Kiowa or La Cygne.
Still others are named after other towns and cities where their pioneer founders were originally from. Below is a list of some Kansas communities with some interesting or unexpected name origins. Please note that this list does not include any of the numerous ghost towns that exist across Kansas, although many of them, like the Butler County town of Bois d’Arc, also have unique names and interesting stories behind them.
Cuba
Located in Republic County and founded in 1886, the town reportedly got its name from a well-traveled visitor who remarked that the residents were friendly and hardworking, like those he had met in Cuba.
Gas
Located in Allen County, Gas got its name from—you guessed it—gas. Located just west of Iola, Gas’ name came from the abundance of natural gas discovered and extracted in the area during the early 20th century.
Holyrood
Founded in 1874, Holyrood in Ellsworth County gets its name from Holyrood in Newfoundland, Canada. Irish Catholic settlers named the Canadian town for Holyrood, which means Holy Cross.
Hugoton
First settled by McPherson County residents in 1881, the Stevens County town was originally going to be named after French author Victor Hugo, but because there was already a Hugo, Colorado, Hugoton was chosen instead.
Kismet
Perhaps it’s Kismet that there’s no clear record of how the Seward County town came to be known as Kismet. According to this webpage created by the descendants of the town’s founders, no records have been found that explain the town’s naming, but it’s believed that because the fate of the railroad hinged on successfully crossing the Cimmaron River just to the west of town, the name Kismet, which means fate or destiny, was chosen.
Long Island
While it would be easy to extrapolate that whoever founded Long Island was originally from Long Island, New York, that’s not the case. According to Phillips County, Native Americans gave it that name because when the Elk and Prairie Dog Creeks surrounding the town would flood, it would cut off the town, creating an island.
Moscow
It would be easy to come to the conclusion that Moscow gets its name because of the number of Russian-German immigrants who settled in Kansas must have named it that. It was actually a series of mistakes that led to the name. The town was actually supposed to be named after a member of Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto’s expeditionary force by the name of Luis de Moscoso. However, when the town petitioned to get a post office, they accidentally misspelled it as Mosco. The Post Office assumed they had accidentally left off the W and officially named the town Moscow. Incidentally, De Soto in Johnson County is named for Hernando De Soto.
Niotaze
The town of Niotaze began as a trading post about a mile north and a half mile east of its current location along 166 Highway in southeast Chautauqua County. It was first known as Jayhawk before its name was changed to Matanzas. It has also been called Neola, New Port, Niota, and finally Niotaze.
Petrolia
An unincorporated town in Allen County, Petrolia, like Gas, gets its name from the oil and gas industry that thrived in the county in the early 20th century. Petrolia is the name of the Pennsylvania town where petroleum was first discovered in the US, and many towns where petroleum was found were given the same name, like Petrolia, Ontario, Canada, and Petrolia, Texas.
Paola
Paola reportedly got its name from Father Paul M. Ponziglione, who came to the area in 1851 and named the town Paola after a town on the west coast of his native Italy.
Radium
The town of Radium was originally called Wellsville. However, its name was changed in 1909, but not because radium was found there. It’s often cited that it was named Radium because it was discovered in 1909, but that is false. The element had already been discovered and isolated by the Curries in 1898, garnering them the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903. It likely got its name from the Radium Craze that was sweeping the country, with the radioactive element showing up in everything from dubious medicines to watches and other household items.
Sun City
Sun City’s residents lived in dugouts when it was first settled in 1873. Stories vary on how the town got its name, from either the town’s settlers who arrived at sunrise or sunset, or it is named after a Native American whose name means Sun in English.
Zenda
Originally called New Rochester, the town’s name was changed to Zenda in 1899. One story says it is named after a novel entitled “The Prisoner of Zenda,” and the other is that it is a shortened form of an ancient religious term that means “good prevails over evil.”
If you have a Kansas town you think should be on this list, email me at [email protected].
