Conway is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either hav ...

in southwestern Jackson Township,

McPherson County, Kansas McPherson County (standard abbreviation: MP) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 30,223. The largest city and county seat is McPherson. The county is named for Civil War General J ...

, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 56 and a

Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad The Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in the Midwestern United States. It is primarily located in Kansas and extends into Colorado, but despite its name, not into Oklahoma. Overview The KO is a subsidiary of Watco, ...

line, west of the city of McPherson.

History

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

19th century

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 The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

. In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

became the 34th

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

. In 1867, McPherson County was founded. In 1878,

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...

and parties from Marion County and McPherson County chartered the

Marion and McPherson Railway Company The Marion and McPherson Railroad was a short-line railroad in central Kansas. History As early as 1875, city leaders of Marion held a meeting to consider a branch railroad from Florence to Marion. In 1878, the ''Marion and McPherson Railway C ...

.''Marion County Kansas : Past and Present''; Sondra Van Meter; MB Publishing House;

LCCN The Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) is a serially based system of numbering cataloged records in the Library of Congress, in the United States. It is not related to the contents of any book, and should not be confused with Library of ...

72-92041; 344 pages; 1972. In 1879, a branch line was built from

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

to McPherson, in 1880 it was extended to Lyons, in 1881 it was extended to Ellinwood. The line was leased and operated by the

. The line from

to Marion, was abandoned in 1968.Railway Abandonment 1968
/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

, Marion,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, Hillsboro,

Lehigh Lehigh may refer to: Places United States *Lehigh, Iowa *Lehigh, Kansas *Lehigh, Oklahoma *Lehigh, Barbour County, West Virginia *Lehigh, Wisconsin *Lehigh Acres, Florida *Lehigh Township (disambiguation) *Lehigh Valley, a region in eastern Penns ...

, Canton, Galva, McPherson, Conway, Windom, Little River, Mitchell, Lyons, Chase, Ellinwood. A post office was opened in Conway in 1880, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1983.

20th century

The

National Old Trails Road National Old Trails Road, also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912, and became part of the National Auto Trail system in the United States. It was long and stretched from Baltimore, Maryland (some old maps indicate N ...

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

Geography

Its elevation is 1,542 feet (470 m), and it is located at (38.3694530, -97.7864348).

Economy

Conway is home to a large underground refined

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

storage facility. The storage facility consists of large caverns carved into the underlying salt beds. The storage facility has a holding capacity of over 4 million barrels of propane and other refined petroleum products. The Conway storage facility holds approximately 30% of the propane stored in the United States.

Education

The community is served by

McPherson USD 418 McPherson USD 418 is a public unified school district headquartered in McPherson, Kansas, United States. The district includes the communities of McPherson, Conway, New Gottland, and nearby rural areas. Schools The school district operates th ...

public school district.

References

External links

Historic Images of Conway
Special Photo Collections at

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

Library * McPherson County maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT {{Authority control Unincorporated communities in McPherson County, Kansas Unincorporated communities in Kansas 1880 establishments in Kansas Populated places established in 1880