Alanthus | Buffalo
Park | Campus | Gove
| Grainfield | Grinnell
| Jerome | Orion
| Pyramid | Quinter
| Teller | Hackberry
Community - Plum Creek Community - Swedish Community
Homesteading in Gove County
Quinter
The Union Pacific Railroad established
a sidetrack called Me-lo-te Switch in 1879. A land company from
Nebraska purchased the land for a town site in 1885 and called
in Familton after William Familton of Omaha. The land company
known as the I. B. Chase Company sold land to a colony of Brethren
as well as other homesteaders. The homesteaders and those who
had bought lots in town discovered that they had no land when
they returned the following spring. The I. B. Chase Company had
swindled them out of their money. Eventually a new town company
was formed and property ownership was finally settled.
The Post Office was established in
1886 and the town was then renamed Quinter after Elder James B.
Quinter, a minister in the Church of the Brethren. One year later,
the town was thriving. It had 13 stores, several restaurants,
2 blacksmith shops, a bank and a drugstore. The "Settler's
Guide" was established in 1886 as the first newspaper. It
later became "The Quinter Republican", and finally,
in 1919, "The Gove County Advocate".
After the drought in the 1890's, the
town grew and prospered with many businesses. The town claimed
five churches: Church of the Brethren, started in 1886; Reformed
Presbyterian, started in the 1870's; Big Creek German Baptist
Church, started in 1891; Methodist Episcopal Church, started in
1898; and the Dunkard Brethren Church, started in 1926. All are
still active today.
The Quinter School District was organized
in 1886. A two story brick building was built in 1888. Quinter
Rural High School was formed in 1916. The Quinter High School
was the largest school in the county and still is today.
the Quinter Hospital and Sanatorium
was stared in 1914 and was controlled by the Church of the Brethren.
It became a county hospital in 1950. A long term care facility
was added in 1963.
Quinter has the largest population
of Gove County at this time.
Sources
Gove County Historical Museum
They used the following sources in writing this information.
"History and Heritage of
Gove County". Gove County Historical Museum.
Harrington, W. P. "History
of Gove County, Kansas".
