Hanston
Marena, located on the northern edge of the present
day town of Hanston, was founded by the Shook family. It was one
of the contestants for the county seat in 1879. The Hann family
gave some land for a town site after the railroad announced it
was going to build tracks through the area. This town was to be
named Hanston.
The two towns were side by side with a store, a
blacksmith shop and a school in Marena, and another store and
a lumber yard in Hanston. Amidst the rivalry of the two towns,
the post office was named Marena when Kansas had a Republican
governor (the Shooks were Republican), and when there was a Democratic
governor (the Hanns were Democrats), it was named Hanston. The
railroad, not wanting to be involved in the controversy, named
the depot Olney. Eventually Hanston absorbed Marena, but the depot
remained Olney.
The ethnicity of its settlers is unknown.
Sources
Raser, Margaret Haun and Ina
Rumford. "A History of Hodgeman County". Hodgeman County
Centennial Committee, 1961.
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