Hays, Kansas
| Hays, Kansas | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Main Street in Downtown Hays (2014)
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|
 Location within Ellis County and Kansas |
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 KDOT map of Ellis County (legend) |
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| Coordinates: 38°52′46″N 99°19′20″W / 38.87944°N 99.32222°WCoordinates: 38°52′46″N 99°19′20″W / 38.87944°N 99.32222°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kansas |
| County | Ellis |
| Founded | 1867 |
| Incorporated | 1885 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 7.95 sq mi (20.59 km2) |
| • Land | 7.95 sq mi (20.59 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Elevation | 2,021 ft (616 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 20,510 |
| • Estimate (2015) | 21,092 |
| • Density | 2,600/sq mi (1,000/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP codes | 67601, 67667 |
| Area code(s) | 785 |
| FIPS code | 20-31100 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0475182 |
| Website | HaysUSA.com |
Hays is a city in and the county seat of Ellis County, Kansas, United States. The largest city in northwestern Kansas, it is the economic and cultural center of the region. It is also a college town, home to Fort Hays State University. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 20,510.
Prior to American settlement of the area, the site of Hays was located near where the territories of the Arapaho, Kiowa, and Pawnee met. Claimed first by France as part of Louisiana and later acquired by the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, it lay within the area organized by the U.S. as Kansas Territory in 1854. Kansas became a state in 1861, and the state government delineated the surrounding area as Ellis County in 1867.
In 1865, the U.S. Army established Fort Fletcher southeast of present-day Hays to protect stagecoaches traveling the Smoky Hill Trail. A year later, the Army renamed the post Fort Hays in honor of the late Brig. Gen. Alexander Hays. In late 1866, anticipating the construction of the Kansas Pacific Railway as far west as Fort Hays, a party from St. Louis, Missouri led by William Webb selected three sections of land for colonization near the fort. In June 1867, to better serve the railroad, the Army relocated Fort Hays 15 miles northwest to a site near where the railroad was to cross Big Creek, a tributary of the Smoky Hill River. Seeing a business opportunity, Buffalo Bill Cody and railroad contractor William Rose founded the settlement of Rome, Kansas near the fort's new location. Within a month, the population of Rome grew to over 2,000. Webb, meanwhile, established the Big Creek Land Company and then surveyed and platted a town site, which he named Hays City after the fort, roughly one mile east of Rome. The railroad reached Hays City soon thereafter and constructed a depot there. The railroad's arrival, combined with a cholera epidemic that hit Rome in the late summer of 1867, drove Rome businesses and residents to relocate to Hays City. Within a year, Rome was completely abandoned. As the western terminus of the railway, Hays City grew rapidly, serving as the supply point for territories to the west and southwest.
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