Rome, Kansas | |
---|---|
Nickname: The Walled City [1] | |
Coordinates: 38°52′43.59″N99°20′39.71″W / 38.8787750°N 99.3443639°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Kansas |
County | Ellis |
Elevation | 1,909 ft (582 m) |
Population | |
• Total | 0 |
Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
Area code | 785 |
Rome was a short-lived postbellum frontier settlement in Big Creek Township, Ellis County, Kansas, United States. It is notable for its association with the early plains career of its co-founder, William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody. Rome was the first town established within the future Ellis County, followed very shortly by rival Hays City.
In 1867, William Rose, a railroad contractor, and William Cody founded the townsite to take advantage of the recent relocation of Fort Hays adjacent to the planned crossing of Big Creek by the Kansas Pacific Railway. It soon became a recreation center for 1200 railroad construction workers as well as their shelter in the Indian conflict that the railroad construction triggered. However, the railway's selection of Hays City for the station combined with the cholera outbreak in Rome the same summer resulted in the wholesale abandonment of the town in favor of Hays City. [2] [3]
In 1868, the Clarkson Brothers, Charlie, Matthew, and George, set their buffalo hunting headquarters at the abandoned Rome site. By 1872, they had completed the requirements for their homestead claim on the land Rome had occupied. [4]
Although the town had quickly failed, Cody maintained an interest in the location. At the 1876 Centennial Exposition, Cody convinced I. M. Yost (the husband of a cousin) to build a water-powered grain mill at Rome. With assistance from soldiers from Fort Hays, Yost built a wooden dam there on Big Creek to power the mill and provide ice to the fort. While the dam was soon destroyed by animals and flooding and the mill by fire, Yost was committed to the locality and built more mills in and around Hays, and later founded nearby Yocemento. [1]
A map of Rome was reconstructed in the 1930s as a WPA project. This map was compiled by H. R. Pollock from newspaper articles, interviews, and correspondence with people with historical connection with the town, including I. M. Yost, the miller, C. L. Henderson, who had a farm adjoining Rome, and Simon Motz, an early settler in Rome. [4] [5] [6]
The historic townsite north of Rome Avenue is presently a private gated facility, managed by Rome Corporation.
In late 1867, the Kansas Pacific Railway completed a wooden through-truss bridge across Big Creek. Vigilantes active in early treeless Hays City used the bridge for hangings, and so it is known locally as Hangman's Bridge. [7] Although the bridge was a full mile west from the early Hays City, it adjoined Rome; the Clarkson brothers noted seeing a body hanging on the bridge (probably Jack McGee who had stabbed a police constable, Frank Sheperd). [4]
The bridge site is particularly associated with the 1869 lynching of three black soldiers of the 38th United States Colored Infantry Regiment. [8]
The Kansas Pacific track defined the southern edge of the Rome townsite. Here, the railroad was constructed at a significantly elevated grade justified by the potential for flooding on Big Creek. However, town residents suspected that the excessively elevated tracks were built intentionally to interfere with commerce of the town. The combination of the high track with the deeply cut ravine of Big Creek surrounding the remaining boundaries of Rome resulted in the derisive nickname "The Walled City". [1] Today, the track is operated by the Union Pacific Railroad.
In 1867, the Ellis Trail passed along the north side of the town, crossing Big Creek at the east and west ends. The Butterfield Overland Despatch briefly operated a station in Rome, before relocating to Hays City.
Originally constructed as "Yocemento Road", [9] present day Rome Avenue passes through the townsite east and west, crossing Big Creek just east of the townsite (This road was named Noose Road in 1989 for 9-1-1 services; but, was renamed to Rome Avenue in 2020.) [10]
While Rome Avenue was the original U.S. Route 40 alignment (locally "Highway 40"), the United States Highway system vacated this alignment in 1947 when the highway and railroad tracks were realigned at Yocemento, moving the highway just to the south of the tracks between Yocemento and Hays. This newer alignment lost the U.S. Route 40 designation when Interstate 70 was completed and the road is now named Old Hwy 40.
The short spur Rome Road makes a connection across the track between Rome Avenue and Old Hwy 40.
Ellis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Hays. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 28,934. The county was named for George Ellis, a first lieutenant of the Twelfth Kansas Infantry. Ellis County is the official German Capital of Kansas. German immigrants settled in Hays, Ellis, Victoria, and nearby villages in the 1870s and 1880s.
Ellis is a city in Ellis County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,958.
Hays is a city in and the county seat of Ellis County, Kansas, United States. The largest city in northwestern Kansas, it is the economic and cultural center of the region. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 21,116. It is also a college town, home to Fort Hays State University.
Victoria is a city in Herzog Township, Ellis County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,129.
U.S. Route 411 (US 411) is an alternate parallel-highway associated with US 11. It extends for about 309.7 miles (498.4 km) from US 78 in Leeds, Alabama, to US 25W/US 70 in Newport, Tennessee. US 411 travels through northeastern Alabama, northwestern Georgia, and southeastern Tennessee. It is signed north-south, as with most highways that have odd numbers, but the route runs primarily in a northeast-southwest direction, and covers a more east-west mileage than it does north-south. Notable towns and cities along its route include Gadsden, Alabama; Rome, Georgia; Cartersville, Georgia; Maryville, Tennessee; Sevierville, Tennessee, and Newport, Tennessee.
K-99 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Kansas. The highway runs 234.473 miles (377.348 km) from Oklahoma State Highway 99 (SH-99) at the Oklahoma state line near Chautauqua north to Nebraska Highway 99 (N-99) at the Nebraska state line in Summerfield. K-99 connects Emporia with several smaller county seats to the south and north, including Sedan, Howard, Eureka, Alma, and Westmoreland while passing through the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas.
Fort Hays, originally named Fort Fletcher, was a United States Army fort near Hays, Kansas. Active from 1865 to 1889 it was an important frontier post during the American Indian Wars of the late 19th century. Reopened as a historical park in 1929, it is now operated by the Kansas Historical Society as the Fort Hays State Historic Site.
U.S. Route 1 (US 1) is the easternmost and longest of the major north–south routes of the older 1920s era United States Numbered Highway System, running from Key West, Florida, to Fort Kent, Maine. In the U.S. state of Maryland, it runs 81 miles (130 km) from the Washington, D.C. line to the Pennsylvania state line near the town of Rising Sun.
Delaware Route 9 (DE 9) is a 57.83-mile (93.07 km) state highway that runs from DE 1 near Dover Air Force Base in Kent County north to DE 2 in the city of Wilmington in New Castle County. DE 9 is a designated scenic highway known as the Delaware Bayshore Byway south of New Castle, running through mostly rural areas to the west of the Delaware Bay and the Delaware River as a two-lane undivided road. Between New Castle and Wilmington, DE 9 is a four-lane road that runs through urban and suburban areas. DE 9 passes through several cities and towns including Little Creek, Leipsic, Port Penn, Delaware City, and New Castle. DE 9 has an auxiliary route, DE 9A, that provides access to the Port of Wilmington. In addition, it has a truck route, DE 9 Truck, located to the south of New Castle.
New York State Route 46 (NY 46) is a state highway in Central New York in the United States. It extends from NY 12B in the Madison County town of Eaton to NY 12D in the Oneida County village of Boonville. NY 46 passes through the cities of Oneida and Rome.
U.S. Route 13 (US 13) is a United States Numbered Highway running from Fayetteville, North Carolina, north to Morrisville, Pennsylvania. The route runs for 49.359 miles (79.436 km) through the Delaware Valley in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route enters the state from Delaware in Marcus Hook, Delaware County. It continues northeast through Delaware County, passing through the city of Chester before heading through suburban areas along Chester Pike to Darby. US 13 enters the city of Philadelphia on Baltimore Avenue and runs through West Philadelphia to University City, where it turns north along several city streets before heading east across the Schuylkill River along Girard Avenue. The route turns north and heads to North Philadelphia, where it runs northeast along Hunting Park Avenue. US 13 becomes concurrent with US 1 on Roosevelt Boulevard, continuing into Northeast Philadelphia. US 13 splits southeast on a one-way pair of streets before heading northeast out of the city on Frankford Avenue. The route continues into Bucks County as Bristol Pike, heading northeast to Bristol, where it becomes a divided highway. US 13 becomes a freeway in Tullytown and continues north to its terminus at US 1 in Falls Township, near Morrisville. US 13 roughly parallels Interstate 95 (I-95) through its course in Pennsylvania.
U.S. Highway 20 (US-20) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs for 3,365 miles (5,415 km) from Newport, Oregon, to Boston, Massachusetts. Within the state of Nebraska, it is a state highway that begins on the Wyoming–Nebraska state line west of Harrison near the Niobrara River and runs to the Nebraska–Iowa state line in South Sioux City. Throughout its 431.60-mile (694.59 km) length, the route passes through a diverse range of landscapes, including bluffs and escarpments in the Nebraska Panhandle, the Sandhills in the northern part of the state, and rolling hills and plains as the highway approaches the Missouri River valley south of Sioux City, Iowa. Throughout its length, US-20 is a two-lane highway with the exception of the easternmost 8.45 miles (13.60 km), which is a four-lane divided highway, the last 3.21 miles (5.17 km) of which is concurrent with Interstate 129 (I-129). The 197 miles (317 km) between the Wyoming border and Valentine is designated as the Bridges to Buttes Byway, one of nine scenic byways in the state of Nebraska.
U.S. Route 50 (US 50) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that travels from West Sacramento, California, to Ocean City, Maryland. In the U.S. state of Colorado, US 50 is a major highway crossing through the lower midsection of the state. It connects the Western Slope with the lower Front Range and the Arkansas Valley. The highway serves the areas of Pueblo and Grand Junction as well as many other smaller areas along its corridor. The long-term project to widen the highway from two lanes to a four lane expressway between Grand Junction and Montrose was completed in January 2005. Only about 25% of the remainder of highway 50 in Colorado is four lane highway.
Walker is an unincorporated community in Herzog Township, Ellis County, Kansas, United States. It is located between Hays and Russell, along old Hwy 40 on the north side of I-70. Walker has a post office with ZIP code 67674.
The Overland Trail was a stagecoach and wagon trail in the American West during the 19th century. While portions of the route had been used by explorers and trappers since the 1820s, the Overland Trail was most heavily used in the 1860s as a route alternative to the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails through central Wyoming. The Overland Trail was famously used by the Overland Stage Company owned by Ben Holladay to run mail and passengers to Salt Lake City, Utah, via stagecoaches in the early 1860s. Starting from Atchison, Kansas, the trail descended into Colorado before looping back up to southern Wyoming and rejoining the Oregon Trail at Fort Bridger. The stage line operated until 1869 when the completion of the First transcontinental railroad eliminated the need for mail service via stagecoach.
The Battle of the Saline River in the beginning of August, 1867, was one of the first recorded combats of the Buffalo Soldiers of the U.S. 10th Cavalry. This battle occurred 25 miles northwest of Fort Hays in Kansas on August 2.[see discussion]
U.S. Highway 71 is a U.S. highway that runs from Krotz Springs, LA to the Fort Frances–International Falls International Bridge at the Canadian border. In Arkansas, the highway runs from the Louisiana state line near Doddridge to the Missouri state line near Bella Vista. In Texarkana, the highway runs along State Line Avenue with US 59 and partially runs in Texas. Other areas served by the highway include Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas.
Toulon is an unincorporated community in Big Creek Township, Ellis County, Kansas, United States. It is located east of Hays along old Hiway 40.
Yocemento is an unincorporated community in Big Creek Township, Ellis County, Kansas, United States. The settlement lies across the banks of Big Creek against the base of bluffs capped by massive limestone blocks, in which lies the 20th-century origin of the community.
Isaac M. Yost, commonly I. M. Yost, or "Ike", was a miller and frontier industrialist who led the development of flour milling in the settlement of Hays City, Kansas. Even though he was the leading miller in Hays for decades, he was particularly remembered there for co-founding the short-lived United States Portland Cement Company and the associated townsite of Yocemento.
One of [Cody's] greatest contributions to Hays was when he got I. M. Yost to locate here.
Page 268 has a reprint of the WPA map.
Years ago there was such a road and it was much traveled. It [ran] to the Replogle creek crossing, then up his road around Hogback and back to the track. [This article, discussing construction of a road to the new cement mill at Yocemento, lists George Palmer, Bruel, Sach, and Zeigler (at the old Rome townsite.) all shown as land owners along the right-of-way in the Standard Atlas of Ellis County, Kansas, 1905.]