Conway is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in southwestern Jackson Township,

McPherson County, Kansas McPherson County (standard abbreviation: MP) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 30,223. The largest city and county seat is McPherson. The county is named for Civil War General J ...

, United States. It lies along

U.S. Route 56 U.S. Route 56 (US 56) is an east–west United States highway that runs for approximately in the Midwestern United States. US 56's western terminus is at Interstate 25 Business (I-25 Bus.), US 412 and New Mexico State Road 21 (NM 21) in Springe ...

and a

Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad The Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in the Midwestern United States. It is primarily located in Kansas and extends into Colorado, but despite its name, not into Oklahoma. Overview The KO is a subsidiary of Watco, w ...

line, west of the city of McPherson.

History

Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 McPherson County

19th century

For millennia, the land now known as Kansas was inhabited by Native Americans. In 1803, most of modern Kansas was secured by the United States as part of the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

. In 1854, the

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

was organized, then in 1861

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

became the 34th

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

. In 1867, McPherson County was founded. In 1878,

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

and parties from Marion County and McPherson County chartered the

Marion and McPherson Railway Company The Marion and McPherson Railroad was a short-line railroad in central Kansas. History As early as 1875, city leaders of Marion held a meeting to consider a branch railroad from Florence to Marion. In 1878, the ''Marion and McPherson Railway Compa ...

.''Marion County Kansas : Past and Present''; Sondra Van Meter; MB Publishing House;

LCCN The Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) is a serially based system of numbering cataloged records in the Library of Congress, in the United States. It is not related to the contents of any book, and should not be confused with Library of ...

72-92041; 344 pages; 1972. In 1879, a branch line was built from

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

to McPherson, in 1880 it was extended to

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

, in 1881 it was extended to Ellinwood. The line was leased and operated by the

. The line from

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mari ...

, was abandoned in 1968.Railway Abandonment 1968
/ref> In 1992, the line from

to McPherson was sold to

Central Kansas Railway The Central Kansas Railway (CKR) was a short-line railroad operating of trackage in the U.S. state of Kansas and west to Scott City, Kansas. All trackage was former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway branchlines in Kansas and northern Oklahoma ...

. In 1993, after heavy flood damage, the line from Marion to McPherson was abandoned. The original branch line connected

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Hillsboro, Lehigh, Canton,

Galva Galva may refer to: Places ;United States * Galva, Illinois * Galva, Iowa * Galva, Kansas Galva is a city in McPherson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 834. History Early history For ...

, McPherson, Conway, Windom,

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territo ...

Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...

, Ellinwood. A post office was opened in Conway in 1880, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1983.

20th century

The

National Old Trails Road National Old Trails Road, also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912, and became part of the National Auto Trail system in the United States. It was long and stretched from Baltimore, Maryland (some old maps indicate Ne ...

, also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912, and was routed through Windom, Conway, McPherson.

Geography

Its elevation is 1,542 feet (470 m), and it is located at (38.3694530, -97.7864348).

Economy

Conway is home to a large underground refined

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

storage facility. The storage facility consists of large caverns carved into the underlying salt beds. The storage facility has a holding capacity of over 4 million barrels of propane and other refined petroleum products. The Conway storage facility holds approximately 30% of the propane stored in the United States.

Education

The community is served by McPherson USD 418 public school district.

References

External links

Historic Images of Conway
Special Photo Collections at

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

Library * McPherson County maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT {{Authority control Unincorporated communities in McPherson County, Kansas Unincorporated communities in Kansas 1880 establishments in Kansas Populated places established in 1880