La Harpe

History

La Harpe was founded by the Fort Scott, Wichita & Western Railroad company (later the Missouri Pacific), and was platted in 1881. It was named after La Harpe, Illinois and they both commemorate a prominent French explorer of the southern Great Plains of North America, Bernard de la Harpe When natural gas was discovered in the immediate vicinity in 1899 the city began to grow more rapidly and soon rose to be a city of importance. It was incorporated as a city of the second class, and in 1910 had some of the largest zinc smelters in the world, two banks, an opera house, several good mercantile establishments, a newspaper, and all the municipal improvements usually found in cities of that class. The population that year was 2,080. Its post office, first opened in November 1881, was authorized to issue international money orders, and two rural routes supplied mail to the surrounding country.

Geography

La Harpe is situated along U.S. Route 54 in the central part of Allen County, La Harpe is about miles east of the city of Iola (the county seat), miles east of Gas, and about seven miles west of the junction of U.S. Routes 54 and 59 and the city of Moran. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  616
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  574
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  567
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  508
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  490
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  359
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  357
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  331

Largest nearby schools

• Iola Sr High
  High · Iola · 313 students · 13.6:1 ratio
• Iola Middle School
  Middle · Iola · 246 students · 12.9:1 ratio
• Marmaton Valley Elem
  Elementary · Moran · 135 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• Marmaton Valley High
  High · Moran · 135 students · 9.6:1 ratio
• Iola High School Virtual
  High · Iola · 11 students
• Marmaton Valley Virtual School
  High · Moran · 5 students