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The Military Bounty Land Act of 1855 assigned the land of what was to become The Grand Central Hotel to Mr. Martin Merrick in 1862. The land sold many times before Mr. M. M. Young purchased it in 1881. Thus The Grand Central Hotel opened in 1884. The building sat empty for a few years in the late 1980's before selling for $ 41.00 on the Chase County Courthouse steps. An amazing transformation has occurred since that time. Exterior and interior brick surfaces underwent extensive restoration. The building was gutted, making way for a gracious, quaint luxury hotel.
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| In 1874, with The Civil War over, people began the great migration west. Cattle drives turned Kansas cowtowns into armed camps with per capita murder rates higher than those of modern day New York. The western cattle towns turned boomtowns where the latest Paris fashions were sold out of the backs of wagons. Attracted to this atmosphere of greed, over 100 outlaws banded together to form ruthless gangs. Some legendary figures rode through Kansas, such as Wyatt Earp, Jesse James, Doc Holiday, The Daltons, and more. |
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