Lyona, Kansas
Lyona is an unincorporated rural area in Liberty Township, Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. Although Lyona is officially considered the valley where Carry Creek flows into Lyons Creek, locals use the name to refer to an area covering parts of Dickinson County and Geary County.
History
The establishment of Fort Riley in 1853 began the settlement of the Lyons (also called Lyon or Lyon's) Creek, named for an army captain who hunted and fished along the creek. Early settlers included Rekken, Smith, Brussow, Staatz, Bigert, and Latzke. The Charles Staatz family was the first to settle near the spot that Carry Creek flows into Lyons Creek in 1857. A daughter died shortly after and is the earliest burial in the Lyona graveyard. A son born in 1858 is considered the first white child born in Dickinson County.
A town was laid out by D.R. Emery and J.F. Staatz. The town was to be called "Lyonsville," but by the summer of 1861 the only residences were those of Emery and Staatz and the idea was abandoned. The Lyona United Methodist Church was organized in 1859 by Rev. Charles Heidel as "The Junction City Mission." Heidel's son-in-law, Rev. Charles Stuekemann, was the first pastor. This was the first church organized in Dickinson County and is the oldest church in the Kansas West Conference of the United Methodist Church. The area was also home to the first school in the county, Lyona School District #1, from 1868–1938 and again briefly from 1943-1951. The Lyona area is currently served by the Chapman USD 473 and Rural Vista USD 481 school districts.
The community supported a string of basic retail businesses up into the 1960s. With no rail line through the community, early farmers took their grain and other products to rail stops on the Katy railroad at Wreford, Skiddy, or the larger town of Junction City. When the Rock Island built through the area in the 1880s, farmers also had the option of shipping at Woodbine and Pearl. Both the Wreford and Skiddy elevators are now gone and all shipping is now done by trucks from elevators at Pearl, Woodbine, Chapman, White City, and Junction City.
Following the Great Flood of 1951, the United States Army Corps of Engineers sought to build a large reservoir in the Lyona valley, with the dam one-half mile north of the church and the lake extending to Woodbine. On September 23, 1951, a group of community members began the process of establishing a watershed. The work of this committee defeated the plan for the Woodbine Reservoir in March 1967. On September 20, 1968, approval was given to begin work on the proposed work plan of the Lyons Creek Watershed District No. 41. Since construction of the water retention structures began, the area has not been devastated by a major flood.
Old Highway 77 runs through the heart of the community and over the hill from the church is the Kansas State 4-H Camp and Conference Center. The Lyona area remains an agricultural community with some residents communiting to Junction City or Fort Riley.
References
"The Story of the Valley Called Lyona, Vol. 1" Lyona United Methodist Church, 1984
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lyona, Kansas. |
- Dickinson County website
- Information on Watersheds
- Rural Vista USD 481
- Chapman USD 473
- Dickinson County Map, KDOT
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Coordinates: 38°51′43″N 96°55′33″W / 38.86194°N 96.92583°W