Walton is a city in Harvey County, Kansas, United States. It is named in honor of one of the 19th century stockholders of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.''History of the State of Kansas''; William G Cutler; 1883
/ref> As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 219.

History

Walton United Methodist Church in Walton, Kansas

Early history

For many millennia, the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans. From the 16th century to 18th century, the Kingdom of France claimed ownership of large parts of

. In 1762, after the French and Indian War, France secretly ceded New France to Spain, per the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

19th century

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

In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France. In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase for 2.83 cents per

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

. 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 became the 34th U.S. state. In 1872, Harvey County was established within the

, which included the land for modern day Walton. In 1871, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway extended a main line from Emporia through Walton to

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

,Santa Fe Rail History
/ref> reaching Walton and Newton in July. In 1996, it merged with

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a Mergers and acquisitions, merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the e ...

and renamed to the current

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

. Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Santa Fe". Walton was laid out as a town site in December 1871 by William Mathews. He built a home, and this was followed by a general store and railroad section house. Because of difficulty in perfecting title to the lots, the town-site remained dormant until it was sold to J.F. Watson and he filed a plat of the town in 1876. In 1871, a

Kansas one room school In the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century, one room schools were commonplace throughout rural Kansas. In most rural schools, all of the students met in a single room. One room meant one teacher who taught basic reading, writing, ...

, measuring 18 x 20 feet, was built and the first school was held by Mrs. M. J. Sharron. A post office was established in Walton on December 28, 1871, Mrs. E. Peck as Postmistress.

20th century

The

New Santa Fe Trail The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in ...

road was routed through Walton in the late 1910s. Initially, the road entered the north side of the city on Walton Ave.1918 Kansas Highway Map; KSDOT.
/ref>1932 Kansas Highway Map; KSDOT.
/ref> The trail became

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...

in the late 1930s, when the new highway was routed northeast to southwest parallel to the railroad.

Geography

Walton is located at

coordinates In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine the position of the points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as Euclidean space. The order of the coordinates is sig ...

38.1177891, -97.2567001 in the

of the state of Kansas. It is near the dividing line between Cottonwood and Arkansas River basins and near the highest ground in Harvey County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.

Area events

* Walton Rural Life Festival, every October.

Area attractions

* Kansas Historical Marker
''Red Turkey Wheat''
on north side of US-50 near NE city limits.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 235 people, 93 households, and 69 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 105 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 93.2% White, 0.4% African American, 5.1% Native American, 0.4%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 0.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 6.0% of the population. There were 93 households, of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 25.8% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.88. The median age in the city was 40.9 years. 21.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.7% were from 25 to 44; 30.7% were from 45 to 64; and 17.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 57.0% male and 43.0% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 284 people, 109 households, and 79 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 118 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.42% White, 1.41% African American, 1.06% Native American, 1.06% from other races, and 1.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or

of any race were 3.87% of the population. There were 109 households, out of which 42.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were

living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 23.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.10. In the city, the population was spread out, with 32.0% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 16.9% from 45 to 64, and 8.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 129.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.4 males. As of 2000 the median income for a household was $34,375, and the median income for a family was $39,500. Males had a median income of $30,781 versus $18,882 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,679. About 9.1% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.5% of those under the age of eighteen and none of those 65 or over.

Government

The Walton government consists of a mayor and five council members. The council meets once a month. * City Hall, Police Department, Fire Department, 122 Main St. * US Post Office, 301 S 2nd Ave.

Education

Primary and secondary education

The community is served by

Newton USD 373 Newton USD 373 is a public unified school district headquartered in Newton, Kansas, United States. The district includes the communities of Newton, North Newton, Walton, McLain and nearby rural areas. Schools The school district operates the ...

public school district. Walton students of junior and high school ages attend school in

. *

Walton Rural Life Center Walton Rural Life Center is an agricultural charter elementary school in Walton, Kansas, United States,Murphy, Kevin (2013-02-16)"Farm Theme Boosts Enrollment in Rural Kansas School." ''Reuters.com''. Retrieved 2016-04-24.Meyer, Gene (2013-06-05)" ...

, 500 West Main Street, a charter elementary school,

Grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also r ...

Pre K– 4. Walton High School was closed through school unification. The Walton High School mascot was Walton Wildcats.

Library

Walton Community Library
122 Main St.

Film

Using Agriculture to Spur Achievement : The Walton 21st Century Rural Life Center, 2011, U.S. Department of Education filmed a documentary at the Walton 21st Century Rural Life Center charter elementary school in November 2010. The crew also interviewed farm families, teachers, students, and community members. The resulting video will be featured on their website, highlighting the center as a best practices model of innovation in education.

Media

Print

* ''

Hillsboro Free Press The ''Hillsboro Free Press'' is a local weekly newspaper from Hillsboro, Kansas Hillsboro is a city in Marion County, Kansas, United States. Hillsboro was named after John Gillespie Hill, who homesteaded in the area in 1871.Hillsboro Kansa ...

'', free newspaper for greater Marion County area. * '' The Newton Kansan'', regional newspaper from

. * ''

The Wichita Eagle ''The Wichita Eagle'' is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and is the largest newspaper in Wichita and the surrounding area. History Origins In 1870, ''The Vidette'' was the fi ...

'', major regional newspaper from Wichita.

Radio

Walton is served by numerous radio stations of the Wichita- Hutchinson listening market area, and

satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a ''broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than ter ...

. See ''

Media in Wichita, Kansas Wichita is a major center of media in Kansas. The following is a list of media outlets based in the city. Print Magazines *''Splurge!'', monthly, local fashion and lifestyle *''Teenview Magazine'', monthly magazine created for teens by teens from ...

''.

Television

Walton is served by over-the-air

ATSC Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standards are an American set of standards for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable and satellite networks. It is largely a replacement for the analog NTSC standard and, like that ...

digital TV of the Wichita- Hutchinson viewing market area,Wichita-Hutchinson TV market.
/ref>

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...

, and satellite TV. See ''

''.

Infrastructure

Transportation

A major highway US-50 and a railroad

pass through Walton. US-50 was originally the

and roughly parallels the

. The Amtrak

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff ...

stops in nearby

twice each day and provides passenger rail service towards Los Angeles and Chicago. See

Newton (Amtrak station) Newton station is a train station in Newton, Kansas, United States, served by Amtraks ''Southwest Chief'' train. It is the nearest station to Kansas' largest city, Wichita. History The station was originally built in a Tudor Revival style by ...

Utilities

* Internet ** DSL is provided by CenturyLink. ** Wireless is provided b
Pixius Communications
(wireless), Verizon (cellular). ** Satellite is provided by HughesNet, StarBand, WildBlue. * TV ** Satellite is provided by DirecTV,

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...

. ** Terrestrial is provided by regional digital TV stations. * Telephone ** Landline is provided by CenturyLink. ** Cell Phone is provided by Verizon. * Electricity ** City is provided by Westar Energy. ** Rural is provided b
Flint Hills RECA
* Natural Gas ** Service is provided by KMGA, billed by City of Walton. * Water ** City is provided by Harvey County RWD #1, billed by City of Walton. ** Rural is provided b
Harvey County RWD #1map
. * Sewer ** Service is provided by City of Walton. * Trash ** Service is provided by Waste Connections, billed by City of Walton.

Notable people

:''See also List of people from Harvey County, Kansas'' * Guy Hawk, Kansas House of Representatives,Kansas Legislators Past & Present
/ref> Banker