Eminence, Kansas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eminence, Kansas
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 Eminence, Kansas
Location in Kansas
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| Country | United States |
| State | Kansas |
| County | Finney |
| Founded | 1887 |
| Elevation | 2,608 ft (795 m) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 0 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code | 620 |
| GNIS ID | 485330 |
Eminence is a ghost town located in Finney County, Kansas, United States. A ghost town is a place where people used to live, but now it's mostly empty or has very few residents.
Contents
The Story of Eminence
Eminence was founded in 1887. When it was first settled, it had a big competition with another town called Ravanna. Both towns wanted to be the "county seat" of Garfield County. A county seat is the main town in a county where the government offices are located.
The County Seat Rivalry
Ravanna won the first election to become the county seat by just 35 votes. Ravanna even started building a new courthouse, which people nicknamed the "Great White Elephant" because it was so big and expensive.
But Eminence didn't give up! They challenged the election results. They said that a construction crew working on Ravanna's courthouse had voted illegally. They claimed that 60 votes were cast using the names of people who were not alive or didn't live in Ravanna.
Court Decision and County Disappearance
The Kansas Supreme Court (the highest court in Kansas) agreed with Eminence. In 1889, the court decided that Eminence should be the new county seat.
However, this victory for Eminence didn't last long. A surveyor hired by Ravanna found something important: Garfield County itself was too small! The Kansas Constitution had rules about how large a county needed to be, and Garfield County didn't meet the minimum size. Because of this, the entire county was officially closed down, or "disincorporated." It was then added to (or "annexed" by) the neighboring Finney County.
Post Office History
Even after these changes, Eminence had a post office. It opened in June 1887 and served the community for many years. However, it eventually closed down in 1942.
Eminence in Pop Culture
Eminence was mentioned in the 1999 TV movie Atomic Train. In the movie, Eminence was shown as a place where people from Denver, Colorado, were taken for safety. This happened after a train crash and a fictional event involving a nuclear weapon.
