On June 3rd, 1855 Chestina Bowker Allen, New England Immigrant and homesteader, wrote in her diary, “The City of many names... is now permanently named Manhattan.” Whether or not the fledgling town on the prairie would survive depended on good weather, lots of luck, and a chance to outcompete surrounding towns for settlers, rail lines, and businesses. Without the perfect combination of conditions, Manhattan, KS, could have ended up like the hundreds of other ghost towns founded during westward expansion. This talk chronicles one fateful event that shaped not only the name of Manhattan, KS, but also helped seal its chance of survival: the Hartford Steamboat Crash. It explores how this ill-fated steamboat voyage became a much-needed boost during the early settlement of Manhattan, and what the many names of Manhattan reveal about the precarious fates of communities throughout Kansas in the 19th century.

The presenters are Dr. Mary Kohn and Holly Hill. Dr. Mary Kohn an English Professor and Director of the Chapman Center for Rural Studies at Kansas State University. At the Chapman Center Dr. Kohn works to bring faculty, students, and community members together to tell the stories of rural Kansas and launch the research to help these communities thrive. Holly Hill is a third year MA student in the Department of History at Kansas State University. She is a graduate assistant at the Chapman Center for Rural Studies, where she helps design the webpages for this project!