Ulysses (Kansas)

Grant County

20-71975

Ulysses is a small town in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat ( county seat ) of the Grant County. Named after U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant town has 5960 inhabitants (as of 2000) on an area of 7.5 km ². Through the city runs the U.S. Highway 160 and the railway line of the BNSF Railway, the Cimarron River is located immediately south of the city. With the Santa Fe Trail ran through the middle of the 19th century one of the most important trade routes through the city later.

History

Ulysses was founded twice. Originally, the town owes its existence to the railroad. In connection with the construction of the railway line from Topeka (Kansas ) to Santa Fe (New Mexico ) ( Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway ) created numerous small settlements. 1885 Ulysses was officially measured; the year is considered the first city's founding. 1888 Ulysses competed with the nearby Appomattox (now defunct ) to the office of the Administrator of Grant County and the Municipality advertised with 2000 inhabitants and " twelve restaurants, four hotels, six gambling halls and other businesses ." The city beat out rivals, but inflicted in the course of the competition so that they could no longer pay its obligations in 1909 and banks wanted to foreclose the entire public land and all public buildings.

Residents invited their homes in a way carriage and moved it to about 5 km in the plains. The Hotel Edwards had to be sawed into three parts to be transportable. Only the stone-built school building remained at the old place. The new city was " New Ulysses " named to avoid a continuity of the city and the foreclosure. The Hotel Edwards is now obtained as a single of the former houses and was converted into a museum of Grant County.

As in the region natural gas deposits were found, the city got a new economic base and settled on 10 January 1921, only 111 inhabitants re-enter as " Ulysses " to the list of incorporated places.