Yocemento, Kansas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Yocemento, Kansas
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 Yocemento, Kansas
Location in Kansas
Yocemento, Kansas
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Kansas |
| County | Ellis |
| Township | Big Creek |
| Founded | 1906 |
| Platted | 1907 |
| Elevation | 2,051 ft (625 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code |
67601
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| Area code | 785 |
| FIPS code | 20-80725 |
| GNIS ID | 484723 |
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Yocemento is a small, unincorporated community in Ellis County, Kansas, United States. It sits along Big Creek, at the base of tall cliffs made of huge limestone blocks. These cliffs were key to the town's start in the 1900s.
The area was first called Hog Back by early settlers. A train station was built here with that name in 1881. The name "Hog Back" came from the high limestone ridge that stretches across the land. In 1906, two men, Erasmus Haworth (Kansas's first state geologist) and I. M. Yost (a leading businessman), founded Yocemento. They wanted to use the local limestone to make Portland cement, a key ingredient in concrete. Yocemento was one of several towns in the High Plains created for this purpose.
Exploring Yocemento's Past
Early People in the Yocemento Area
People lived in the Yocemento area a very long time ago. Scientists found signs of a settlement from around 400 to 1100 CE. This was during the Early Ceramic period of the Woodland culture. They found pieces of pottery, stone tools like arrowheads, charcoal, and animal bones.
This site was likely a hunting camp where people butchered animals and made tools. They hunted bison, deer, and small mammals. They also used local stones like flint to make tools. It seems they only stayed here during warmer months.
In the early 1700s, a French mapmaker named Guillaume Delisle showed Comanche villages on maps of this region. Later, in the early 1800s, the Pawnee had a large seasonal hunting camp nearby. By the mid-1800s, when the first United States settlers arrived, the land was mainly claimed by the Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes.
Railroads and Conflicts in the 1860s
In 1867, the Kansas Pacific Railway began building tracks west from Junction City. This caused problems with Native American tribes who used the High Plains for hunting buffalo. The railroad's new path through the Smoky Hill Trail was seen as an invasion of their land.
From July to August, Dog Soldier warriors attacked railroad workers and settlers. One attack killed seven workers near what is now Victoria. The next day, the Battle of the Saline River happened just 12 miles north of Yocemento. These attacks stopped railroad construction west of Hays. Workers and settlers moved back to the new settlement of Rome.
In October 1867, photographer Alexander Gardner took pictures of the Yocemento area. One famous photo, Westward The Course of Empire Takes Its Way, shows workers laying track near Hays City. These photos were taken just before the Medicine Lodge Treaty was signed. This treaty allowed the railroad to continue building.
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The Railroad Arrives and Settles the Land
After the conflicts ended in late 1867, railroad construction continued. By 1870, tracks reached Denver. The Kansas Pacific Railway encouraged people to settle in Kansas and Colorado. Towns like Ellis were founded. By 1873, Ellis had a hotel and roundhouse built from limestone from the bluffs.
I. M. Yost, who would later co-found Yocemento, arrived in Hays in 1877. He built the first flour mill in the region. This showed the importance of farming and the railroad to the area.
The Hog Back: Not for Farming, but for Industry
While the valleys were good for farming, the Hog Back ridge of limestone was not. Early settlers thought it was unsuitable for growing wheat. Much of these hilltops are still used for pasture today.
However, geologists were interested in the huge limestone bluffs. They studied the rocks and fossils. This area became part of the "Bone Wars," a time when scientists competed to find dinosaur fossils.
The Cement Industry Comes to Yocemento
Founding the U.S. Portland Cement Company
The United States Portland Cement Company was started by Erasmus Haworth and I. M. Yost. Haworth was the first president of the Kansas Geological Survey. He was known for predicting oil discoveries in western Kansas. Yost was a successful businessman and miller in Hays.
In 1906, Haworth and Yost explored the bluffs near Big Creek. Haworth realized this spot was perfect for a cement plant. Limestone could be moved by gravity from the top of the bluff down to a mill in the valley. Yost saw that the creek provided water, and the railroad could bring in fuel and ship out cement. They also planned to create a town next to the mill and sell land lots.
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The partners founded the company and began selling shares. The town of Yocemento was planned in 1907. Its name is a mix of "Yost" and "cement." A post office opened the same year.
Building and Operating the Mill
Construction of the cement mill began in 1907. Workers installed a cable lift and trolley to move limestone from the quarry to the mill. By mid-1908, the mill was working. The town grew to include a general store, hotel, and restaurant. Many workers were Hungarian immigrants who built a Catholic church.
The mill made good quality cement. It was used to build the Kansas City Union Station and pave parts of the Denver Tramway.
However, the Yocemento mill faced tough competition from larger cement companies in Kansas City and Denver. It was believed that these bigger companies tried to force Yocemento out of business. They even pressured the Union Pacific railroad to stop delivering affordable coal to Yocemento.
To keep operating, the mill started using oil as fuel. A postcard from that time shows three large oil tanks at the mill.
Missouri cement plants also lowered their prices, and railroads charged higher shipping fees to plains cement mills. In 1911, the U.S. Portland Cement Co. complained to the ICC. They argued that they were being charged too much for shipping compared to Missouri companies. However, the ICC ruled that the problem was over-production of cement and a lack of cheap natural gas, not unfair shipping costs.
The Mill's Closure and Yocemento's Decline
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The mill began to lose money, and Yost and Haworth lost control of the company. It went bankrupt a few years later. In 1916, John Kernan Mullen, a millionaire flour miller from Denver, bought the company. He planned to restart it.
However, in 1917, the Boettcher Company bought the mill and quickly took it apart. They said the mill was too far from fuel sources and markets to be profitable.
With the mill closed, people started to leave Yocemento. The post office also closed. In 1931, the church building was moved to another township to be used as a community hall.
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Today, Yocemento has a grain elevator and a fertilizer warehouse. Some homes have been built, and parts of the old mill's concrete walls have even been turned into houses.
Oil Discoveries in the Area
Erasmus Haworth, one of Yocemento's founders, believed oil would be found in the area. In 1923, after the mill closed, he returned to drill for oil a few miles northwest of Yocemento. His company drilled one dry well and stopped due to falling oil prices.
Later, other explorers found oil, proving Haworth right. His well was actually located between two of Kansas's largest oil fields. For many years, Ellis County was a top oil-producing county in Kansas.
Changes to Roads and Railroads
Railroad Track Changes
The original railroad tracks in Yocemento were built on unstable ground at the base of the bluff. This area had "slump blocks," which are large pieces of rock that had slid down the slope. The railroad had to repair the tracks many times because the ground kept shifting.
In 1951–52, the Union Pacific Railroad straightened the tracks. They moved them away from the unstable area and cut a new path for Big Creek. This made the railroad more stable.
Highway Changes
Early wagon travel west from Fort Hays was difficult near Yocemento. The ground was too rough at the base of the bluff, and the railroad took up space.
The first public road to Yocemento, called "Yocemento Road," was built to connect Hays with the new cement industry. It ran north of the train tracks. Later, this road became part of the "Golden Belt Road," which eventually became U.S. Route 40. This old highway crossed the train tracks twice, which was inconvenient and caused accidents.
When the railroad moved its tracks in the 1950s, a new section of Highway 40 was also built south of the tracks. The old highway north of the tracks is now called Rome Avenue.
Yocemento's Location
Yocemento is located about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Interstate 70. It is also about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west-northwest of Hays, which is the main town of the county.
The community sits along Big Creek on the eastern edge of the Chalk Hills. This area is part of the Smoky Hills region within the larger Great Plains.
Local Media
Yocemento once had its own newspaper called the Yocemento Star. It was edited by Frank Motz, who later founded the Hays Daily News, a much larger newspaper.
Getting Around Yocemento
Train Travel
The Kansas Pacific (KP) line of the Union Pacific Railroad runs through Yocemento. There is a special track, called a spur, for the grain elevator and other supplies.
Roads
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- Old Highway 40 (RS 1977) runs through Yocemento, parallel to the railroad tracks. It connects the downtown areas of Hays and Ellis.
- Yocemento Avenue runs north and south through the community. It connects to Exit 153 of Interstate 70 about a mile north.
- Rome Avenue runs east and west through the old townsite. It then goes north of the tracks into Hays.
Images for kids
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Alexander Gardner's 1867 photograph of the bluffs over the future Yocemento townsite
