Sun City
George Walker was among the first business
people in the area in 1871, and he established a trading post
on Turkey Creek with his brother and an Army office as his partners.
The honor of the first settler in Barber County goes to Col. Griffin
who settled in the location close to the trading post during the
winter of 1871-72.
Platted in 1872 and settled the following
year, home to the first residents of Sun City were dugouts. The
stories about how it got the name of Sun City are that settlers
arrived at sunrise, they arrived at sunset, or that it was named
for an Indian whose name was "Sun".
Families began arriving in 1873, and
they had to deal with Indian raids. A militia was organized in
1874, and a stockade was built a short time later that same year.
By 1885, the town had three livery
barns, a bank, two hotels, and three grocery stores. The Denver,
Kansas, and Gulf Railroad came to Sun City in 1906, but plans
to go on to Dodge City were put aside.
Sun City is located in the gyp hills
and the National Gypsum Company has a mine close by the town.
The ethnicity of its settlers is unknown.
Sources
Barber County History Committee.
"The Chosen Land: A History of Barber County, Kansas."
Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing Company, 1980.
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