Burrton Historical Museum

THIS WEBSITE IS CURRENTLY IN DESIGN.  We will be adding photos, stories, and other details this week.  Please come back and see us soon!!  Thank you!

Looking out over a treeless sea of native prairie grass, Leicester Day envisioned a town. A small indian trail winding up from the south was already met by another trail coming through from the east. Early in 1871, what would become the cities of Newton and Hutchinson were still just grasslands too, so a new community located halfway between the two held as much hope for prosperity as any other community on the vast, empty prairie. Leicester Day hauled in the materials to build his home, barn, and stables by horse-drawn wagon from Peabody. His nearest neighbor was over 4 miles away. Moving into his new home on June 30, 1871, the Santa Fe railroad was beginning to lay track eastward from a small cattle-stop called Newton. A few months later, the track was completed a mile south of his home on its way toward a few buildings on the prairie called Hutchinson.

Being on this east-west trail through Kansas, and halfway between Newton and Hutchinson, Leicester Day’s farmstead became a Stage Coach stop between the two towns. Commonly known as “the Halfway House” to the regular Stage travelers, it was officially known as Day Station. Often, the Day family would accommodate as many as 38 teams at one time overnight.

First Residents.  First Births, Marriages, & Deaths.  First Merchants, and First Churches.  All of the First Things of Burrton will be found here soon.