Webster was an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Belmont Township,

Rooks County, Kansas Rooks County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat is Stockton, and its largest city is Plainville. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 4,919. The county was named for John Rooks, a private in Compa ...

, United States.

History

The community of Webster was established in the Solomon Valley along the

South Fork Solomon River The South Fork Solomon River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 29, 2011 river in the central Great Plains of North America. The entire length of the river lies i ...

in the late 1870s. Webster was created from two settlements; Webster settled on the north side of the river and Belmont that originated on the south side of the river. Belmont was founded as a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

in 1876. Due to flooding, the Belmont settlement was moved across the river adjoining the Webster settlement. Belmont was first to file an application for a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

. The Belmont application was denied as another Kansas town had previously been granted the name. Instead, Webster was granted a post office in 1879. Webster, named for

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

, was surveyed, platted and filed in 1885. The town was never incorporated. In 1888, Webster had two doctors, two churches, a school and 24 businesses. A large city park called The Grove featured towering cottonwood trees. The population in 1910 was 200.Blackmar, Frank Wilson (1912). Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Volume 2, Chicago: Standard Publishing Company, p. 898 Construction of Webster Dam on the South Fork Solomon River was approved in 1953. Webster Reservoir would encompass the area occupied by the town of Webster. As a result, the town was relocated 2 miles to the southeast. Many businesses and residents chose not to relocate to the new town site.

Geography

Webster lies approximately south-southeast of Webster Dam in the

Smoky Hills The Smoky Hills are an upland region of hills in the central Great Plains of North America. They are located in the Midwestern United States, encompassing north-central Kansas and a small portion of south-central Nebraska. The hills are a diss ...

region of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

. Webster is east of Kansas Highway 258, south of

U.S. Route 24 U.S. Route 24 or U.S. Highway 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States Numbered Highways of 1926 which runs east and west for most of its routing. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Misso ...

, and roughly west-southwest of Stockton, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. The original site of Webster was located at (39.4016756, -99.4359370), a location now submerged beneath Webster Reservoir. The site had an elevation of .

Education

Webster High School was closed in 1963. The grade school closed in 1969. The Webster High School mascot was Webster Eagles.

Transportation

Webster lies at the intersection of two unpaved county roads: 11 Road, which runs north-south, and M Terrace, which runs east-west.

References

External links

Rooks County

Historic Images
Wichita State University Library * Rooks County maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT {{Authority control Former populated places in Rooks County, Kansas Former populated places in Kansas 1885 establishments in Kansas Populated places established in 1885 Unincorporated communities in Rooks County, Kansas