Winfield, Kansas

==History==

===19th century===
Winfield was founded in 1870.<ref name="book-hcck">[https://archive.org/details/historyofcowleyc00mill History of Cowley County Kansas; D.A. Millington / E.P. Greer; Winfield Courier; 162 pages; 1901.]</ref> It was named for Rev. [[Winfield Scott (chaplain)|Winfield Scott]], who promised to build the town a church in exchange for the naming rights.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ | title=Biennial Report of the Board of Directors of the Kansas State Historical Society | publisher=Kansas State Printing Plant | author=Kansas State Historical Society | year=1916 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ/page/n274 167]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Qi9cXyTWt9EC | title=Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Volume 2 | publisher=Standard Publishing Company | author=Blackmar, Frank Wilson | year=1912 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Qi9cXyTWt9EC/page/n908 926]}}</ref>  The first post office at Winfield was established in May, 1870.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/page:2/county:CL | title=Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961, page 2 | publisher=Kansas Historical Society | access-date=6 June 2014}}</ref>  In 1873, Winfield incorporated as a city.<ref name="book-hcck"/>

====Railroads====
Railroads reached Winfield in the late 1870s,<ref name="book-hcck"/> and finished at [[Arkansas City, Kansas|Arkansas City]] in 1881.<ref name="Marion 1972">''Marion County Kansas : Past and Present''; Sondra Van Meter; MB Publishing House; [[LCCN]] 72-92041; 344 pages; 1972.</ref><ref name="Abandon Railway 1942">[http://www.abandonedrails.com/Florence_to_El_Dorado Railway Abandonment 1942]</ref><ref name="book-hcck"/> Eventually, a total of five railroads passed through Winfield.<ref name="book-hcck"/>

====State mental hospital====
In 1881, the State of Kansas established the Kansas State Asylum for Idiotic and Imbecile Youth, temporarily established at Lawrence, but moved to Winfield in 1887/1888, where it served as a dominant local employer for 117 years.<ref name="disability">[http://www.ksde.org/Portals/0/SES/pubs/DisabilityAwarenessGuide.pdf ''Disability History and Awareness: A Resource Guide,''], 2009, Kansas State Department of Education, State of [[Kansas]]</ref><ref name="council_calls">Ranney, Dave, [http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/jun/29/council_calls_closing_state_hospital/ "Council calls for closing state hospital: Kansas no longer needs two state hospitals for the developmentally disabled,"] June 29, 2006, ''Lawrence Journal-World,'' retrieved April 6, 2017</ref><ref name="wsh_ctnewsonline">
[http://www.ctnewsonline.com/news/article_cd88c1ec-4faa-11e6-9eb1-ff24a7ab4833.html ""WSH reunion Saturday,"] July 21, 2016, Winfield / Arkansas City ''Courier-Traveler''</ref>
{{wide image|Winfield kansas 1910 b.jpg|1000px|alt=Winfield panorama (1910)|Winfield panorama (1910)}}

===20th century===
The Winfield-[[Arkansas City, Kansas|Arkansas City]] area became an industrial community in the 20th century, manufacturing consumer goods, and eventually aircraft and aircraft parts, while retaining its traditional dominant employer, the Winfield State Hospital.<ref name="industries">[http://www.cowleycounty.org/area-industries "Area Industries,"] Cowley County government, retrieved April 6, 2017</ref>

On August 13, 1903, 30-year-old Gilbert Twigg, armed with a 12-gauge [[double-barrelled shotgun]], opened fire at a concert, killing six people and wounding at least 25, before killing himself.<ref>{{cite web|title=TWIGG KILLED SIX MEN.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C01E7D71739E433A25755C1A96E9C946297D6CF|work=The New York Times|date=16 August 1903|access-date=20 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="Winfield1">{{cite web|title=The Camen Band Massacre|url=http://www.ausbcomp.com/~bbott/wortman/twigg.htm|website=ausbcomp.com|publisher=Winfield Courier|access-date=March 29, 2016|date=August 14, 1903}}</ref> Three others died in hospitals afterward.

====Strother Field====
In [[World War II]], Winfield, along with neighboring [[Arkansas City, Kansas|Arkansas City]], became home to a military pilot training base, [[Strother Field]], which remained in operation until the end of the war, bringing several thousand military personnel into the area. After the war, in the early 1950s, the field became the shared municipal airport and industrial park for Winfield and neighboring [[Arkansas City, Kansas|Arkansas City]].<ref name="neumann_1975">Neumann, Mary Lucille, "History of Strother Field," 
April 30, 1975, ''Arkansas City Traveler'' as transcribed at [http://www.ausbcomp.com/%5C~bbott/subjects/aviaac.htm "Aviation History in Arkansas City, Kansas"]</ref><ref name="field_history">[http://www.cowleycounty.org/wp-content/uploads/History-of-Strother-Field.pdf "Strother Field History"] (note on official website of Cowley County), retrieved April 5, 2017</ref><ref name="industries" />

====Aviation industry====
The aircraft manufacturing industry in nearby [[Wichita, Kansas|Wichita]] ({{convert|40|mi|disp=or|abbr=on}} to the north)—one of the world's principal aircraft-manufacturing centers—provided employment for many Winfield residents, directly and indirectly. That opportunity grew substantially in the last half of the century, as [[General Electric]]'s [[GE Aviation]] division, in the late 1940s, began producing engines for Wichita aircraft, and eventually in the 1960s, one of Wichita's principal manufacturers, [[Cessna Aircraft Company]] built a factory at Winfield's [[Strother Field]].

====Crayola====
The [[Crayola]] plant, near Winfield, was established in 1952. At the time, it was the only Crayola plant that made paints. The plant made a large part of the jobs in the county. Tours were conducted until 1992, and 5 years later, in 1997, the plant shut down and moved to Pennsylvania. A lot of original crayons and memorabilia can still be seen at the Winfield museum.

====Institutions====
The Winfield State Hospital and Training Center, established in the community in the prior century to house and confine the [[mental illness|mentally ill]] and [[developmentally disabled]], remained as a dominant local employer throughout the 20th century.<ref name="wsh_ctnewsonline" /><ref name="council_calls" /> Towards the end of the century the (now designated "Winfield State Hospital and Training Center") housed [[developmentally disabled]] people. Social, political and legal changes, led to closing of most of the facility in 1998.<ref name="council_calls" /><ref name="disability" /><ref name="wsh_ctnewsonline" /> It was gradually turned into the Winfield Correctional Facility.<ref name="corrections">Official history timeline: [https://www.doc.ks.gov/facilities/wcf/history "WCF History."] (Winfield Correctional Facility), 2013, [[Kansas Department of Corrections]], State of [[Kansas]]</ref>

[[Southwestern College (Kansas)|Southwestern College]] grew to become a leading local institution and employer, drawing students from throughout the central United States, and bringing an extra level of intellectual and cultural development and diversity to the community.

Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society in Social Sciences<ref>[https://pigammamu.org/ Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society in Social Sciences]</ref> was founded at Southwestern College in Winfield in 1924. The international headquarters is now housed at a repurposed Carnegie Library building on Millington Street in downtown Winfield. Pi Gamma Mu is the oldest and preeminent interdisciplinary social science honor society. Its mission is to encourage and promote excellence in the Social Sciences and to uphold and nurture scholarship, leadership, and service.

===21st century===
In the 21st century, Winfield remained an industrial and institutional town. With the exception of Cessna, most of the area's major employers (some under new names and ownership) continued into the early 21st century.<ref name="industries" />