Cato, Kansas
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Cato is 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
Crawford County, Kansas Crawford County is a county located in Southeast Kansas. Its county seat is Girard, and its most populous city is Pittsburg. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 38,972. The county was named in honor of Samuel Crawford, the ...
, United States.


History

Cato was founded in 1854. By 1867, Cato contained a store, a blacksmith, and a sawmill. Cato is believed to be the first community built in the Southeast Kansas area, and it has the distinction of having the first grist mill in Crawford County, the first coal mining operation, the first school in the county, and the first County Fair. Cato was never a large town, reaching its peak population in 1910 with 112 residents. An old, one-room, stone school house built in 1869 is on the National Register of Historic Places. The stone school house, the Cato Christian Church built in 1915, and a stone bridge that was once on the stage coach route, are all that remain of the community.


Area events

Each year the Cato Historical Preservation Association spends one weekend reminding residents and tourists of the pioneer days. The festival includes tours of the pioneer era community, live music, food, and re-enactments, occasionally "including a shoot-out between Missouri border roughians and Kansas lawmen".


References


Further reading


External links

* Crawford County maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT Unincorporated communities in Crawford County, Kansas Unincorporated communities in Kansas {{CrawfordCountyKS-geo-stub