The first endeavor to establish a town below the junction of the rivers, in 1857, failed due to misfortunes of two of the three participants. No further attempt to utilize the impressive water power was made until 1869–1870, when a colony of about 50 families from Genesee County, New York moved in, purchased land and water power rights, and began establishing a community. The Blue Rapids Town Company was formed, and by the end of 1870 the population was about 250. In 1872, Blue Rapids was incorporated as a city of third class under the statutes of Kansas.
Passages that mention Blue Rapids, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Marshall County, Kansas1917 · page 634Read the page →
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Thev remained there until the Genesee colony came to Kansas and founded the town of Blue Rapids, and in 1871 Mr. Tibbetts founded the Blue Rafyids Times, M'hich he published until 1879, follow'ing which he ' was associated with George T. Smith for a few^ years in the publication of the Marshall County Nezvs, but on account of poor health he was compelled to give up active newspaper work. His death occurred in the year 1889, after a life
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History of Marshall County, Kansas1917 · page 869Read the page →
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and grew to manhood on the home farm, where as a lad he assisted his father with the farm work and became impressed with the dignity and independence of the hfe of a farmer. In 1891 he purchased a farm of eighty acres four miles south of the town of Blue Rapids. The farm at that time was for the most part undeveloped and unimproved. Mr. Sedivy at once entered into the task of making development of the place, and in addition to the building of a good house and barn, he made many other valuable improvements that added much to the beauty and the value of the place.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Blue Rapids, 1860 to 1910
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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