Atwood
J. M. Matheny and T. A. Andrews established
the town of Attwood in April 1879, naming it after Matheny's 14
year old son. The original town site was two mile east of the
present location of Atwood. By the fall of 1879, several businesses
had set up shop in the fledging town, including a drug store,
two general stores, a weekly newspaper and a post office. When
it became apparent that Attwood was on school land, the town was
moved to its present location in February 1880. The name changed
to Atwood in 1882 at the request of the Post Office.
Atwood was named the county seat in
1881 after both Ludell and Atwood vied for it. Atwood later became
involved in a county seat fight with Blakeman. (See Blakeman
for that story.) Atwood remained the county seat. The railroad
had laid tracks a mile north of town, so a dray (a heavy dead-axle
wagon used for transporting heavy loads) line for passengers and
freight was set up to make it easier for people to get to the
train. By 1901 the population had grown to 500 and the town continued
to grow as businesses were built.
The ethnicity of its settlers is unknown.
Sources
Hayden, Ruth Kelley. "The
Time That Was: The Courageous Acts and Accounts of Rawlins County,
Kansas, 1875-1915". H.F.Davis Memorial Library, Colby Community
College, Colby, KS, 1973.
"History of Rawlins County,
Kansas". Rawlins County Genealogical Society, 1988.
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