Herndon
The Lorenz Demmer family came from
Smith Center, Kansas, to claim a homestead in Herndon Township
in May of 1876. In the spring of 1877, the Mathais Hafner family
became the first of many Austrian immigrants to settle in the
area. By the fall of 1879, a post office called "Pesth"
had been opened with Lorenz Demmer being the first postmaster.
Also in the fall of 1879, I. N. George, a pioneer merchant, set
up a general store called "George Bros". He became the
second postmaster, and renamed the town to Herndon on October
18, 1880. Mr. George was an admirer of President Abraham Lincoln,
and he wanted to name the town Lincoln, but there was already
another town with that name in Kansas. So, he chose to name it
after Billy Herndon, Lincoln's law partner.
A lot of people who settled in Herndon
were Austrian-Hungarian immigrants who wanted independence and
a homestead of their own. The railroad came through in November
1887, and shortly thereafter a building boom took place in 1888.
The town's number of businesses grew, but on December 23, 1905,
there was a huge fire, presumably started by arson, that damaged
most of the buildings. Businesses were rebuilt in 1906, and new
businesses were started throughout that year.
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.
Courtright, Alfaretta. "An
Old Time History of Rawlins County, Kansas". 1961.
