History
The fertile land of northwest Kansas was once covered with buffalo grass, which was ideal grazing ground for large herds of bison.
In the 1880s cattlemen formed large cattle companies and used the land for grazing large herds. One of the largest cattle companies was the Northwestern Land Cattle Company. Partners of the Northwestern Land Cattle Company, realizing the need for a town, formed the Northwestern Town Site Company and purchased 160 acres of land in the center of Section 36.
Since Benjamin Bird was the president of the newly formed company and a well-respected person in the community, the town Bird City was named. Although the community was named after him, Benjamin Bird was not born, did not die, and never resided here. Several avenues in the town were named honoring other members of the Northwestern Town Site Company, including Ketcham, Pen, Demick, Cave, Rich and Burr.
Two different historical websites have been created on the history of Bird City, KS. They both have great information including some neat, old photos from the early days of Bird City.
The Bird City Historical Association has a website; check out their page at: www.birdcityhistory.com.
Ted Glasco (1991 graduate of Cheylin) created the website www.history.birdcityks.com and has done a great job organizing this information for people interested in the community and its history. He has made this site accessible for others to add their own stories and photos pertaining to the history of Bird City.
