Hoisington

History

In 1886, a group of Barton County businessmen formed the Central Kansas Town Company and founded the town of Hoisington to attract the Kansas and Colorado Railroad to the area. They named the settlement after Andrew J. Hoisington, one of the company partners and a prominent businessman in nearby Great Bend. The railroad reached Hoisington in the fall of 1886, and the settlement was incorporated as a city in 1887. Hoisington modernized and grew steadily over the following decades. The city's first power plant opened in 1903, and a city water system was completed in 1904. The railroad, known by that point as the Missouri Pacific, continued to play a central role in the city's development, employing 1,600 local men by 1911. Hoisington became a major freight and passenger operating division, complete with a roundhouse and shops. Electric street lights were installed in 1915, and the first streets were paved in 1917. The discovery of natural gas in the area in 1929, followed by the discovery of oil in the area in the 1930s, diversified and further stimulated the local economy. It came from the southwestern corner and traveled almost directly into the middle of the city. One fatality was reported, as well as 28 injuries (two critical). Two hundred homes and 12 businesses were destroyed and 85 homes were severely damaged; an additional 200 homes received minor to moderate damage. The city's population and commerce recovered quickly. Today, the tornado's path can still be seen from the air due to the lack of trees, some empty lots, and the newer houses, which are larger and more spaced out than their predecessors.

Geography

Hoisington lies on the southern edge of the Smoky Hills region of the Great Plains. Blood Creek, which flows east into nearby Cheyenne Bottoms, passes immediately south of the city. Central Hoisington lies by road northwest of Cheyenne Bottoms. Situated at the intersection of U.S. Route 281 and K-4 in central Kansas, Hoisington is roughly north of Great Bend, the county seat, northwest of Wichita, and west-southwest of Kansas City. The city sits astride the line between North and South Homestead Townships. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,109
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,495
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,475
• Northern Shoveler

  Spatula clypeata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,154
• Blue-winged Teal

  Spatula discors (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,085
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  1,973
• American White Pelican

  Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  1,859
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,773

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2026-06-16
  9 km SW of Natoma, Kansas
• M 2.9 — 2026-02-02
  7 km N of Hays, Kansas
• M 2.8 — 2025-12-04
  6 km NW of Wilson, Kansas
• M 2.6 — 2025-11-29
  6 km NE of Dorrance, Kansas
• M 2.7 — 2025-11-19
  8 km NE of Dorrance, Kansas
• M 2.8 — 2025-11-10
  4 km NNE of Wilson, Kansas