McPherson, Kansas

McPherson (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is a city in and the county seat of McPherson County, Kansas, United States.<ref name="GNIS"/> As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 14,082.<ref name="Census-2020-Profile">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Census-2020-QF">Template:Cite web</ref> The city is named after Union General James Birdseye McPherson, a Civil War general.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is home to McPherson College and Central Christian College.

History

19th century

1915 Railroad Map of McPherson County

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. In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. In 1867, McPherson County was founded.

McPherson was founded in 1870 by the twelve members of the McPherson Town Company.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1887, city officials began a failed attempt to have the community named the state capital.

The first post office in McPherson was established in 1873.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> McPherson was incorporated as a city in 1874.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

As early as 1875, city leaders of Marion held a meeting to consider a branch railroad from Florence. In 1878, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and parties from Marion and McPherson counties chartered the Marion and McPherson Railway Company.<ref name="MarionCountyBook">Marion County Kansas : Past and Present; Sondra Van Meter; MB Publishing House; LCCN 72-92041; 344 pages; 1972.</ref> In 1879, a branch line was built from Florence to McPherson. In 1880 it was extended to Lyons and in 1881 it was extended to Ellinwood.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The line was leased and operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The line from Florence to Marion was abandoned in 1968.<ref name="Abandon Railway 1968">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1992, the line from Marion to McPherson was sold to Central Kansas Railway. In 1993, after heavy flood damage, the line from Marion to McPherson was abandoned. The original branch line connected Florence, Marion, Canada, Hillsboro, Lehigh, Canton, Galva, McPherson, Conway, Windom, Little River, Mitchell, Lyons, Chase and Ellinwood.

In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway built a main line from Herington through McPherson to Pratt.<ref name="Rock Island Rail History">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1888, this line was extended to Liberal. Later, it was extended to Tucumcari, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. It foreclosed in 1891 and taken over by Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway, which shut down in 1980 and reorganized as Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad, merged in 1988 with Missouri Pacific Railroad, merged in 1997 with Union Pacific Railroad. Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Rock Island".

By 1888, the community was at the junction of four railroad lines. Major industries have included a large flour mill, an insurance company headquarters, and an oil refinery.

20th century

McPherson Union Hotel, 1907 postcard

Transportation

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

Synthetic diamond

In 1926, Dr. J. Willard Hershey of McPherson College -- replicating experiments of other scientists<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name = hershey>Template:Cite book</ref> -- claimed to have produced a synthetic diamond, among the first to have done so.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (Subsequently, other experimenters could not reproduce their synthesis, drawing doubt about Hershey's claim).<ref name=lonsdale>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=don>O'Donoghue, p. 473</ref>

Oil Refinery

In the late 1920s, oil was discovered in McPherson County, Kansas.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> As a result, the Globe Oil & Refining Company, (subsidiary of Lario Oil & Gas Company), constructed an oil refinery in the county seat: McPherson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Built in 1933, the refinery was soon was producing 200,000 gallons of gasoline per day. This output necessitated a marketing campaign to promote the growing retail gasoline business. Lario, like many in the early radio days and before television, sponsored Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball teams to generate excitement for their product in the sport sections of widely read newspapers. For a small sponsorship fee, Lario Oil & Gas was able to reach many more consumers than by conventional advertising.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

First Olympic basketball champions

In the 1930s, the local refinery sponsored the McPherson Globe Refiners basketball team in the (AAU-- basketball's official sanctioning organization at the time). They were coached by Gene Johnson, former head coach of Wichita University (now Wichita State University). Coach Johnson was one of the innovators of the fast break and full-court press.<ref name="documentary_2012_08_01_kmuw_org">"New Documentary Tells Story Of McPherson Basketball Stars," August 1, 2012, KMUW-FM (National Public Radio affiliate, retrieved September 22, 2025</ref><ref name="innovator_2014-07-01_kansas_com">"Shocker Summer: An innovator with Wichita roots," Wichita Eagle, retrieved September 22, 2025</ref><ref name="hoops_2014-08-06_kansas_com">"Wichita State’s branch of Olympic hoops history makes a move," Wichita Eagle, retrieved September 22, 2025</ref>

The Refiners were best known for their tall centers, Joe Fortenberry (6–8) and Willard Schmidt (6–9) and their fast-break style of play. Billed as "The Tallest Team in the World", the Refiners often held their opponents to low scores because of the centers' ability to deflect shots on the way to the basket in what today would be called goaltending. The team invented the "dunk" (so named by Arthur J. Daley, a New York Times sports writer who witnessed it); two of the team's tallest players would demonstrate the technique before a game, to entertain the crowd and intimidate opponents, though the technique was not normally allowed in actual play.<ref name="documentary_2012_08_01_kmuw_org"/><ref name="innovator_2014-07-01_kansas_com" /><ref name="giant_2021_06_29_creighton_edu">"The Creighton giant who helped invent the slam dunk," June 29, 2021, from Creighton at the Olympics, Creighton University, retrieved September 22, 2025</ref><ref name="medal_2020_02_13_panhandlepbs_org">Chandler, Chip: "Amarillo man to be featured on 'Antiques Roadshow' with history-making gold medal," January 16, 2017 (last modified February 13, 2020), Panhandle PBS, Public Broadcasting System, retrieved September 22, 2025</ref><ref name="kansas_2020_04_09_kpts_org">Grawe, Jim: Positively Kansas, Episode 701, April 9, 2020, PBS Kansas/KPTS-TV, Public Broadcasting System, video posted on YouTube, retrieved September 22, 2025</ref>

The Refiners won the AAU national championship in 1936 against the Hollywood Universal team. This earned them the right to compete for the first ever USA Olympic basketball team in 1936. Hollywood Universal narrowly beat the Refiners at Madison Square Garden and the USA team was composed of both Universal and Refiners players and one college student. Coach Johnson was selected to be the assistant coach. After a long journey by boat to Europe, the team played in alternating squads at the Olympics. The Refiners' portion of the team took the court to defeat Canada 19–8 in the final gold medal game on August 14, 1936, at the Summer Olympics -- the first team ever awarded Olympic gold medals in basketball.<ref name="documentary_2012_08_01_kmuw_org"/><ref name="innovator_2014-07-01_kansas_com" /><ref name="hoops_2014-08-06_kansas_com">"Wichita State’s branch of Olympic hoops history makes a move," Wichita Eagle, retrieved September 22, 2025</ref><ref name="kansas_2020_04_09_kpts_org" />

The Refiners' home court is now the McPherson Community Building at 121 East Marlin and can be toured by contacting the local Convention and Visitors Bureau. A mural in honor of the Refiners was completed in 2010 at the intersection of Kansas and Ash, south of their home court in preparation for the 75th anniversary celebration of their victory in 2011.<ref name="mural_mcphersonsentinel">Template:Cite web</ref>

Aircraft production

From 1964 to 1967 (some say 1962 and 1967), the Alon company produced 245 "Alon Aircoupe" two-seat light planes in McPherson. The Aircoupe was an evolution of the influential and popular ERCO Ercoupe, originally developed in the late 1930s by Fred Weick for Henry Berliner's Engineering Research Co. ("ERCO"), in the Washington, D.C. area. Following ERCO's production, design was then acquired by various companies before being acquired by Alon (a contraction of the names of Beech Aircraft Co. executives John Allen and Al Higdon, who formed Alon). The Alon company sold out to Mooney Aircraft of Kerrville, Texas, who took production there, producing a radically revised version as the Mooney M10 Cadet.<ref name="ercoupe_2014_spring_aahs-online_org">Harris, Richard: "ERCOUPE: Fred Weick’s “Safer” Airplane," Spring 2014, AAHS Journal, American Aviation Historical Society, retrieved September 22, 2025</ref><ref name="planeandpilotmag">Ayers, Frank: "The Ercoupe: It’s spin-proof, stall-proof, and just plain fun," January 12, 2025, Plane and Pilot, retrieved September 22, 2025</ref><ref name="alon_aircoupe_aopa_org">"Alon Aircoupe," from "Ercoupe Pilots Smile a Lot" by Rick Durden, November 1998, AOPA Pilot, retrieved September 22, 2025</ref>

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert is water.<ref name="Gazetteer files">Template:Cite web</ref>

The community is located on U.S. Route 56, just west of Interstate 135. McPherson is part of the Little Arkansas River Watershed that ultimately empties into the Arkansas River in Wichita. Dry Turkey Creek is a wet weather stream that composes several enhanced lakes within the city limits. It feeds the Lakeside Park Lagoon before crossing under East Euclid Street and Kansas Avenue, where it then forms Wall Park Lake.

South and west of town are four units of the reclaimed McPherson Valley Wetlands, acquired and managed by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Ducks Unlimited, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Prior to 1880, this natural wetlands was an important waterfowl and wildlife habitat second only to Cheyenne Bottoms in importance to migratory bird populations. These wetlands continue to see improvement and development.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, McPherson has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Demographics

McPherson Opera House (2004)

The 2020 United States census counted 14,082 people, 5,645 households, and 3,495 families in McPherson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=:0 /> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 6,221 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name=:0>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup was 85.0% (11,970) white or European American (83.11% non-Hispanic white), 2.29% (322) black or African-American, 0.82% (116) Native American or Alaska Native, 1.29% (182) Asian, 0.06% (8) Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian, 3.19% (449) from other races, and 7.35% (1,035) from two or more races.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Hispanic or Latino of any race was 7.48% (1,053) of the population.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Of the 5,645 households, 28.1% had children under the age of 18; 47.9% were married couples living together; 26.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. 32.5% of households consisted of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.<ref name=:0 /> The average household size was 2.1 and the average family size was 2.6.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The percent of those with a bachelor's degree or higher was estimated to be 18.4% of the population.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

22.6% of the population was under the age of 18, 12.7% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.2 males.<ref name=:0 /> For every 100 females ages 18 and older, there were 100.8 males.<ref name=:0 />

The 2016-2020 5-year American Community Survey estimates show that the median household income was $57,931 (with a margin of error of +/- $6,181) and the median family income was $69,846 (+/- $6,510).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Males had a median income of $38,465 (+/- $4,682) versus $26,149 (+/- $1,423) for females. The median income for those above 16 years old was $32,004 (+/- $2,858).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Approximately, 4.8% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.9% of those under the age of 18 and 9.3% of those ages 65 or over.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Area events

• Scottish Festival & Highland Games were held on the fourth weekend of September of each year. They are discontinued as of 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Education

McPherson College and Central Christian College are located in McPherson.

The community is served by McPherson USD 418 public school district. USD 418 has an Early Childhood center, four elementary schools (Eisenhower, Lincoln, Rosevelt, Washington), McPherson Middle School and McPherson High School. McPherson's mascot is the Bullpups.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Kansas School District Boundary Map Template:Webarchive</ref> Additionally, private school options are available at St. Joseph Catholic Church & School, serving students through sixth grade.<ref>St. Joseph Catholic School McPherson, Kansas</ref>

Transportation

McPherson was located on the National Old Trails Road, also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, that was established in 1912.

Bus service is provided daily towards Wichita and Salina by BeeLine Express (subcontractor of Greyhound Lines).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Missouri Pacific Railroad formerly provided passenger rail service on a route from Eldorado although this had ended prior to 1946.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of 2025, the nearest passenger rail station is located in Hutchinson, where Amtrak's Southwest Chief stops once daily on a route from Chicago to Los Angeles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Media

McPherson has a daily newspaper, The McPherson Sentinel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a weekly newspaper, The McPherson Weekly News,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The following radio stations are licensed to McPherson:

• 1540 KNGL: Talk radio
• 96.7 KMPK: Adult contemporary

Notable people

• V. John Krehbiel, Ambassador to Finland
• Anna Larkin, folk sculptor, lived in McPherson for many years until her death.<ref name="grassrootsart.net">Template:Cite web</ref>
• George Magerkurth, Major League Baseball umpire, born in McPherson.
• Sue Raney, jazz singer
• Brad Underwood, basketball coach at University of Illinois, McPherson native.

See also

• List of people from McPherson County, Kansas
• National Register of Historic Places listings in McPherson County, Kansas
• Santa Fe Trail
• National Old Trails Road
• Threshing Stone
• List of oil pipelines
• List of oil refineries

Further reading

• McPherson, Kansas: Past and Present, Progress and Prosperity; Freeman Publishing Co.
• McPherson at Fifty - A Kansas Community in 1920s; Raymond L. Flory; McPherson College; 1970.
• Diamond Jubilee McPherson, 1872-1947: Pioneer Days in McPherson; Jessie Hill Rowland; 1947.
• A History of the Church of the Brethren in Kansas (includes McPherson College history); Elmer LeRoy Craik; McPherson Daily; Republican Press; 397 pages; 1922.
• Major General James B. McPherson Monument Unveiling; Alex S. Hendry; 1917.
• Our Railroad; McPherson Independent; September 25, 1879.

External links

• Template:Official website
• McPherson - Directory of Public Officials, League of Kansas Municipalities
• Historic Images of McPherson, Special Photo Collections at Wichita State University Library
• Template:YouTube, from Hatteberg's People on KAKE TV news