Pretty Prairie

History

The first post office at Pretty Prairie was established in 1874. Pretty Prairie was laid out in 1889. It was named from its scenic setting upon the prairie. It was incorporated as a city in 1907. The city's sole source of water is a single well, a 100-foot-deep borehole. Due to agricultural pollution from the region's groundwater, the well water has had nitrate levels in excess of the federal nitrate standard since the mid-1990s. For years, Pretty Prairie distributed bottled water to at-risk families. On January 3, 2017, the town council approved a settlement with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the EPA. The town planned to invest in a water tower, an underground storage tank, and a reverse osmosis water treatment system.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Pretty Prairie has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,110
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,520
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  1,497
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,366
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,361
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,249
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,148
• American White Pelican

  Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  1,140

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2025-11-30
  5 km WSW of Danville, Kansas
• M 2.5 — 2025-08-23
  6 km SSE of Spivey, Kansas
• M 2.6 — 2025-03-25
  5 km S of Milton, Kansas
• M 3.3 — 2024-09-19
  7 km SW of Danville, Kansas
• M 2.5 — 2023-11-04
  4 km SSE of Pretty Prairie, Kansas
• M 2.52 — 2023-03-20
  6 km SW of Manchester, Oklahoma