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Cities Near Parsons, KS
706 S 33rd St
Parsons, KS (in city)
3 Bed, 2 Bath
Home
1800 sq.ft.
Local city information for Parsons, KS
Parsons is a city in the northern part of Labette County, located in Southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. The population was 11,514 at the 2000 census, and it was estimated to be in the year . It is the most populous city of Labette County, and it is the second most populous city in the southeastern region of Kansas.
On June 5, 2006 the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Parsons a 2006 Great American Main Street Award winner for its successful efforts in revitalizing its downtown area through historic preservation. The award was presented during the 2006 National Main Streets Conference in New Orleans. Parsons was one of only five cities receiving the 2006 award.
Parsons was named after Levi Parsons, president of the Missouri - Kansas - Texas (Katy) Railroad. The town was founded in 1870 and incorporated the following year. During World War II it was home to the Kansas Ordnance Plant, which later operated for some years as the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant. In Spring of 2005, the munitions plant was placed on the BRAC list for closure. The community has rallied behind the current plant operator, Day and Zimmerman, to keep the company on the grounds after closure and to keep those jobs and more in the Parsons area. (See link to "Great Plains Industrial Park" in "External Links", below) Parsons is also home to the Parsons State Hospital & Training Center, which has been in operation since 1903 when it was opened as the Kansas State Hospital for Epileptics.
In 1957 the Hospital was renamed Parsons State Hospital and Training Center. At that time it began providing programs for individuals with developmental disabilities. The Hospital occupies 43 buildings on 163 acres. The hospital also includes residential services, the University Center on Developmental Disabilities and the Parsons Research Center for the University of Kansas, the Special Purpose School of the Southeast Regional Education Service Center. The Southeast Kansas Agricultural Research Center of Kansas State University is also located on the grounds, as is the Alzheimer's Association, Heart of America Chapter, Southeast Kansas Regional Office.
The first library in Parsons began as a subscription library in 1904 and was located in the city hall. Parsons Public Library, a Carnegie library, officially opened on May 18, 1909. A new library building was opened on April 18, 1977, and the old library building has since been renovated to become a visual and performing arts center.
The sale of Katy Industries to Union Pacific, in 1988, eventually saw the loss of scores of railroad jobs and, in effect, severed a major part of Parsons' city history which stretched back to its 1871 incorporation. While, in return, the city received a million dollars to help it recover (and so that it would not file lengthy paperwork opposing the sale and thus delaying it), that money is kept in a fund by the city government, which uses the accrued interest on economic development projects. The only reminder of the Katy Railroad is now found in the local historical society's museum and of course the tracks, over which trains now speed through Parsons. The Kansas Army Ammunition Plant also was down scaled in the 1980s. Local authorities seemed powerless to halt the economic decline.
On April 19, 2000, an F3 tornado cut a devastating path of destruction through the center of Parsons. Eight hundred homes, one hundred twenty businesses, and hundreds of vehicles were destroyed or damaged.
In June 2008, new ownership of the daily newspaper, The Parsons Sun, began monthly charges for access to its internet site, making it one of the very few online newspapers to do so.
Parsons is the home of Dwanes Photo , which is the last processor of K-14 Kodachrome film in the United States, and one of only 2 left in the world as of September 2008.
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