Goessel

History

For many millennia, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans. From the 16th century to the 18th century, the Kingdom of France claimed ownership of large parts of North America. In 1762, after the French and Indian War, France secretly ceded New France to Spain per the Treaty of Fontainebleau. In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France. In 1803, most of the land for present-day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000-square-mile Louisiana Purchase for 2.83 cents per acre. The Kansas Territory was organized in 1854, and Kansas became the 34th U.S. state in 1861. In 1855, Marion County was established within the Kansas Territory and included present-day Goessel. The year 1874 saw the first wave of an immigration of Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonites to south-central Kansas. The move was an attempt to preserve religious heritage and freedom after exclusion from military service was rescinded. In 1873 twelve Mennonite delegates from the Russian Empire toured Manitoba and Kansas, with the four conservative Mennonite delegates selecting the East Reserve in Manitoba and the eight liberal delegates selecting immigration to Kansas. In the next decade, one-third of Mennonites in Russia moved to North America. In 1874 a large number of Mennonites from the Molotschna Colony emigrated en masse to the United States aboard the ships Teutonia and Cimbria. This group split into two groups. The Alexanderwohl group sailed on the Cimbria and settled around present-day Goessel, and the Hoffnungsau group sailed on the Teutonia and settled around present-day Buhler and Inman. The Alexanderwohl group split into eight communal villages. The village of Gnadenfeld (translation: Grace Field) was located…

Geography

Goessel is located in the Great Plains of the state of Kansas. The county line is one mile west of Goessel. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters with very cold periods.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,572
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,225
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,125
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,028
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,967
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,592
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  2,325
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  2,228

Largest nearby schools

• Goessel High
  High · Goessel · 160 students · 12.3:1 ratio
• Goessel Elem
  Elementary · Goessel · 134 students · 16.8:1 ratio