Chautauqua, Kansas Post Office by Kathy Alexander.
Chautauqua, Kansas, is a small town in southern Chautauqua County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 108, and it had a total area of 0.43 square miles, all of it land.
This place got its start in August 1881. The main attraction and the cause that gave rise to the community was the presence of mineral springs. These springs were highly valued for the medical properties of the waters, which were regarded as invaluable in the cure of a variety of chronic sores and other diseases.
There were seven valuable springs, six of which contain minerals with excellent healing properties. The curative properties of the spring waters were known, not only through medical and chemical analysis, but also by the apparently miraculous cures effected by their experimental use and application in many instances.
The discovery of these springs was made in 1873 by Dr. Minna, a physician who practiced in the vicinity at that time. It was his custom, when riding by, to drink of the water, and although recognizing the presence of mineral taste in them, he made no further analysis. His belief during all this time was that possibly, there were in these same waters medical ingredients that might prove valuable in the healing of diseases.
However, nothing was done toward making further tests of these mineral springs until Dr. G.W. Woolsey opened them in August 1880. The spring was neatly and substantially walled up. It was constructed with a large basin for holding the water, the whole being covered by a commodious spring house, tastefully built, paved with flag rock, and conveniently seated with benches. An analysis of the waters was made by practical chemists of some note, of the cities of St. Joseph and Kansas City, Missouri, showing the water to contain, in different proportions, iron, potassium, salts, and magnetic gas.
While excavating the earth, in opening up the spring, the workmen struck upon rocks, standing upright, and arranged in a sort of basin shape, presenting evidence that it had been the handiwork of man.
The original town site comprised 80 acres, one-half of which belonged to Dr. G.W. Woolsey, and the other half to Dr. T.J. Dunn, to which additions of 40 acres each were made by J.C. Kiles, Binns, and B.F. Bennett, making a total of 200 acres on the townsite.
Livery Stable in Chautauqua, Kansas.
B.F. Bennett erected the first building for a drug store. In the Fall, T.J. Johnston established a dry goods house, F.M. Fairbanks put up a livery barn, Thomas Bryant opened a dry goods store, a grocery and provision store was established by Bennett & Binns, and a drug store by George Edwards.
A post office was established on October 3, 1881. That month, a grocery store belonging to James Randall was opened, and about the same time, Mrs. Bush started a millinery establishment. James Allreid established a sawmill in December 1881.
The educational advantages of the city were in common with those of the country district within which it is included, the district having been organized and the house built in 1880. It was situated just outside the city limits. Religious services were held at periodic times by the Baptist, Methodist, United Brethren, and Church of Christ denominations in the schoolhouse, as there was no regular church building provided.
In February 1882, “Dick” Foster opened a hardware store, which he sold to W. Williams in September of the same year. At about the same time, C.C. Purcell began another drug business. James Sipples opened a dry goods store in August 1882. Besides these, there were also two livery barns, two blacksmith shops, and two wagon shops.
Chautauqua was incorporated as a city of the third class in February 1882, and Thomas Bryant was elected Mayor; S. Booth, Clerk; I.H. Wilson, Treasurer; B.F. Atkinson, Marshall, and M.O. Shoupp, N. M. Lee, F. A. Fairbanks, E. Moore, and S. Cheny, Councilmen.
Early day Main Street in Chautauqua, Kansas.
At the regular city election held in April 1882, E. P. Moore was chosen Mayor; S. Booth, Clerk; I.H. Wilson, Treasurer; F.A. Fairbanks, M.O.; Shoupp, N.M.; Lee, S. Cheny; and C.E. Moore, Councilmen.
The Chautauqua Springs Spy newspaper was established on May 19, 1882, by C.E. Moore and L.G.B. McPheron, and was a seven-column folio, independent in politics, and had a circulation of 350 copies.
The first hotel was built by a man named Castleberry, who ran it for about six months. After changing hands several times, it was still used as a hotel, one of three in the city. Two of these, the Ginn and Meeks houses, were small affairs, but the other, the Eagle Hotel, erected in June 1882 by James Ferguson, was the finest public house in the county. James Ferguson, originally from Scotland, immigrated to the United States in his twenties and served in the Civil War. In the fall of 1870, he moved to Kansas and took a claim in Chautauqua before the town was surveyed. Years later, he bought the lots at Chautauqua Springs to build the fine hotel.
The Eagle Hotel was a large, two-story stone structure, 70 feet long and 40 feet wide, containing 25 rooms and accommodating approximately 60 guests. It also had a basement with four bathrooms, which were supplied with hot and cold baths, the water of which was supplied from the noted mineral springs. The house was constructed with long verandas on two sides, and on each floor. The walls of the old building were made of native stone work. The interior woodwork was mostly of native lumber, oak, and black walnut, including a solid black walnut staircase of beautiful design. The building of the hotel and goods cost $10,000, and it is one of the largest and best hotels in Southern Kansas. The hotel stood on the slope of the canyon, a few steps from the springs, and overlooked the deeper canyon of Turkey Creek and the beautifully timbered hills, stretching far away into the Indian Territory (Oklahoma). There was also a bathhouse near the hotel, and spring water was bottled and sold. Thousands came to bathe and drink, seeking to restore themselves physically and emotionally. Indians used the waters before the white settlers arrived; the name “Chautauqua” means “medicine water.”
Eagle Hotel at Chautauqua Springs, Kansas.
Chautauqua Springs Buildings.
By the early 1880s, Chautauqua’s population had grown to approximately 300, and the constant influx of settlers was adding to the community.
The Chautauqua Springs Mail Newspaper was periodically published in 1887.
By 1905, the town had approximately 600 residents and was one of the most prominent shipping stations for the nearby Osage Indian Reservation in Oklahoma.
In 1920, Chautauqua’s population was 401.
After standing for nearly 50 years, the Eagle Hotel burned down on July 31, 1929. The building was unoccupied except for one room used by the owner, D.B. Easley, who had bought the property hoping to bring the springs back to public attention.
Chautauqua Rural High School
Chautauqua High School was closed as part of the school unification process.
Today, the community is served by the Chautauqua County USD 286 public school district in Sedan.
Chautauqua is about eight miles south of the city of Sedan on State Highway 99 and one mile north of Oklahoma.
Chautauqua Springs, Kansas, today, courtesy of Chautauqua County.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, September 2025.
Bank and business buildings in Chautauqua, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
New Life Baptist Church in Chautauqua, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
Also See:
Chautauqua County Photo Gallery
Sources:
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Chautauqua County
Cutler, William G.; History of Kansas; A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Genealogy Trails
Sedan Times Star, August 4, 1929.
Wikipedia