History:

Every geographic region in Kansas is distinctive in some way. Due to its mineral resources, settlement patterns, and ethnic diversity, perhaps no region of the state is more distinctive than the southeast corner. From the 1880s through the first two decades of the twentieth century the inhabitants of southeast Kansas mined almost one-third of the nation’s bituminous coal. The coal powered an extensive system of railroads in the region and was used to heat homes and businesses. Southeast Kansas coal, and later natural gas, also fired the kilns that processed great quantities of lead and zinc ore extracted from the tri-state mining region of Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Iron foundries, cement plants, tile and pottery manufacturers, glass pane factories, lead and zinc sheet mills, and brick plants made southeast Kansas the most industrialized region of the state.