Hyatt, Kansas, in Anderson County, was formed by a colony in Lawrence, Kansas, who wanted to settle the county.
Kansas Militia.
Thaddeus Hyatt and W. F. M. Arny formed the colony in December 1856. It numbered about 80 men who had been discharged from the Free State Militia on November 30, 1856.
Captain James A. Harvey and his men had been pro-slavery prisoners in Missouri before making their way back to Lawrence. Most of the men who joined the colony were unmarried.
On December 18, they selected the proposed townsite in Washington Township. At that time, only three families were in the county’s western part. The colonists selected claims on Cedar and South Pottawatomie Creeks. They lived in tents all winter and then moved to their claims.
While in camp, they prepared timbers and built a hotel, store, and blacksmith shop on the townsite. The Town Company was formed in February 1857, with W. F. M. Arny as president and C. J. Farley as secretary. The town was platted and named for Thaddeus Hyatt. The plat of the townsite was then filed in the district land office at Lecompton, Kansas, and in the office of the county’s Probate Judge. Its founders’ project was to make this town the county seat.
In the spring of 1857, a sawmill was built, and the next fall, a gristmill was attached. During the summer, B. F. Allen opened a store selling dry goods and groceries. Unfortunately, during the summer of 1857, there was much sickness and much death, and a cemetery was established south of the town.
Hyatt, Kansas Store.
A post office opened on September 10, 1857, with W.F.M. Arny as the postmaster. It was probably the first post office in Anderson County.
In 1858, a school was established with Josephine Ramsey as the teacher. At about the same time, a city park was built. There was a stage/wagon stop where five trails crossed to different towns.
The town declined in 1859 when many citizens followed the Colorado Gold Rush, and the county seat was permanently located at Garnett. However, the town prevailed for several years until its post office was closed on March 14, 1867.
Nothing remains today of what was once the principal town of the county.
© Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated October 2024.
Also See:
Sources:
Anderson County Historical Society
Cutler, William G; History of Kansas; A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Kansas Post Office History