Rockwell City
This town site was laid out and platted
by Dr. William Rockwell in 1884. It was located in what was known
as the Dunkard Colony. (Click
here for more on the Dunkard Colony.) Dr. Rockwell built a
general merchandise store hoping that it would draw settlers to
the town site. However, Dr. Rockwell died in September 1884, and
in the spring of 1885, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad
built its tracks to the south. Mrs. Rockwell moved the store established
by her husband from Rockwell to Norcatur (just inside the Decatur
county line) after seeing that the town was not going to become
the town that her husband had envisioned. Rockwell City was soon
abandoned.
Sources
Bowers, D. N. Seventy Years in
Norton County, Kansas, 1872-1942. The Norton County Champion,
Norton, Kansas, 1942.
Nicholson, John H. A History of Norton County, Kansas. Masters
Thesis,
Colorado State College of Education, 1941.
|
