Hutchinson
Homesteading in Reno County
Prentice, Noble Lovely. "History of Kansas". Winfield,
KS: E. P. Greer, 1899.
The county was organized by the Kansas Legislature in 1872 and
was named for Major General Jesse Reno who had been stationed
at Fort Leavenworth. Reno was killed in the Battle of Gettysburg.
The town of Hutchinson was named the county seat.
The Mennonites came to Reno County in 1874 only to find a land
of grasshopper-infested crops; they decided to not settle there
and went east a little ways to Harvey County and made their homes
in the Newton and Florence areas. However, some Mennonites returned
to Reno County about 10 years later and were able to set up farms
in the southern and northeastern sections of the county. Using
the hard Red Turkey wheat they brought with them from Russia,
the Mennonites established a long-standing farming tradition for
the state of Kansas.
Sources
Stucky, Tim. "Reno County:
The Early Years." North Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 1985.
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