Strong City

Strong City. Flint Hills Scenic Byway. , Originally named Cottonwood Station, Strong City received its current name from W.B. Strong, president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. This was an important railroad town and was also known for its stone quarries and stone contracting firms., Stone from the nearby quarries was used for the Chase County courthouse as well as the State Capitol building in Topeka. Crushed stone was also used to build the railroad beds., Prairie fires have occurred in the Flint Hills for centuries. Some are started by lightning, and - in times past - some were lit by Native Americans to control bison movement. Today ranchers use prairie fires to manage pasture plants and to improve pasture for grazing. The fires are highly visible during spring nights., Every year the Flint Hills Rodeo is held in Strong City the first full weekend of June. Founded in 1937 by members of the E.C. Roberts family, it is the oldest consecutive professional rodeo in Kansas., The Roberts family members were rodeo celebrities. In the 1940s Gerald Roberts was World Champion All-Around Cowboy, and Ken Roberts was a World Champion Bull Rider., Margie Roberts Hall was a trick rider who performed at major rodeos for 25 years and was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Oklahoma., Just north of Strong City on the Flint Hills Scenic Byway (K-177) is the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, which includes the former Z-Bar/Spring Hill Ranch built in 1873 by Stephen Jones, a cattle baron from Colorado. He built a magnificent three-story barn, a lovely Second Empire-style mansion of native limestone, and a unique outhouse., Stop at the preserve to tour the ranch buildings, walk the 1.75-mile nature trail, tour the Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse, and take a ranger-led tour out on the open prairie., 2000 Population: 584 , Founded: 1871 , Elevation: 1182'