Hays
Kansas, United States
Hays, city, seat (1867) of Ellis county, central Kansas, U.S. It lies on Big Creek. The city was founded in 1867 after the establishment of Fort Hays (a frontier post built as Fort Fletcher in 1865). In 1876 Volga Germans settled the area on land ceded by the Kansas Pacific Railroad. The fort was abandoned in 1889; its blockhouse and guardhouse are preserved in the city’s Frontier Historical Park. Oil fields in the vicinity began...