Minneapolis, Kansas - Small Town, Big Name on Waymarking.com

The "City of Waters" as its name implies, the pleasant and progressive and beautifully situated metropolis and county seat of Ottawa, occupies a central position in the county, on the banks of the famous Solomon River, and on the line of the Solomon Valley Railroad. The town site is one of the finest and most beautiful in the State. Pipe Creek is on the northwest, and Salt Creek here flows parallel to the Solomon a short distance to the south. By these streams the name Minneapolis, the City of Waters, was suggested. The course of the river, the lay of the land, and the view so resemble those of Beatrice, Neb., that one city might have been modeled after the other. The town site is about fifty feet above the bed of the river, and is quite rolling, with the exception of the principal business portion. From the more elevated portions of the town, grand and picturesque views can be obtained of the surrounding country. To the north, on a clear day, the view extends thirty-five miles. The Solomon and Salt Creek valleys, teeming with the fruits of agriculture, can be traced for miles to the west, northwest and southeast; and across the river, two and a half miles to the southwest, half-way up the bluffs that enclose the valley of the Solomon, appears the wonderful City of Rocks. At the foot of the main street, running north and south a graceful iron bridge spans the river, supported by stone abutments thirty feet in height. Just above the bridge is the milldam.

The residence portion of the town is built up with neat and comfortable dwellings, ornamented by lawns and bed of flowers, and a few of them with shade trees. The business portion has a number of good stone business blocks, built of the red sandstone so abundant along the Solomon River. This stone has a great variety of shades, which, when properly arranged, makes a very handsome wall. It is very soft when first quarried, but by exposure become hard and durable.

Minneapolis was laid out in 1866 by Israel Markley, Elijah Smith, Dr. James McHenry, A. C. Stull and A. J. Smith, all of whom but one (Elijah Smith) are still residents of the town. Ayersburg was designated as the county seat by the Governor, but at the first election, in the fall of 1866, Minneapolis secured that honor. In 1870, and also in 1872, the county seat question was before the people, who decided at the polls in favor of Minneapolis. In 1871 it was made a city of the third class. It grew slowly, but steadily, until 1878, when the Solomon Valley Railroad reached the place, and it rapidly increased in business and population. It now has a population of about 1,200.

The people are energetic and industrious, the business class consisting principally of young men of means and ability, who, by hard work and square dealing, have made Mineapolis a growing commercial point. To show the amount of business transacted, it is only necessary to state that from $25,000 to $30,000 are annually paid in freights, and that about 500 cars of stock and grain are shipped from this point every year. Flour is about the only article of manufacture, but there is an abundance of water-power, and in time it may become considerable of a manufacturing town.

Courtesy of city website.

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