A Town Named McFarland, Kansas

It was early in the year 1887 that S. H. Fairfield learned where the Rock Island Railroad was proposing a junction for a branch line. Fairfield purchased the land where the junction was to be located with the intent of starting a new town. On June 9, 1887, Fairfield filed a plat of the town at the Wabaunsee County Register of Deeds; he named his new town "McFarland" after his friend Judge N. C. McFarland of Topeka. He could not name his new town after himself because he had previously founded a town about one and a half miles west of McFarland on the MAB Railroad and named it" Fairfield" in 1880. A town company was formed, and the members were S. H. Fairfield, C. W. Jewell, James Sury, George Bates, and Judge N. C. McFarland. The land was surveyed and then plated into lots and streets. W. D. Moffet, a civil engineer for the Rock Island Railroad, drafted the plat. The plat created a "T" town with Market Street being the top of the "T" and parallel with the railroad tracks and the bottom of the "T" Main Street. This is why McFarland is straight with the railroad tracks and crooked with the world. Market Street enters from the southwest, and Main Street exits from the northwest.

The town's namesake, Judge Noah C. McFarland from Topeka, was born on April 23, 1822, in Washington County, Pennsylvania. After completing his courses at Washington College, he turned his attention to the study of law by entering the law office of Judge Scott in Bucyrus, Ohio. In later years, Judge McFarland was elected to the Ohio State Senate, where he served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He became a member of the Ohio Republican delegation at the Chicago National Republican Convention, which nominated General U. S Grant for president in 1868. In 1870, McFarland moved to Kansas to practice law. After three years, Judge McFarland was elected as State Senator for Shawnee County and also served on the Judiciary Committee. He was later appointed as a member of the Ute Indian Commission and also served as Regent of Kansas State College. In 1881, he was appointed United States Land Office Commissioner in Washington D. C. by President Garfield and reappointed by President Arthur. Judge McFarland died April 26, 1897, at the Copeland Hotel in Topeka after a three-week illness.

No information has been found to indicate how S. H. Fairfield and Judge McFarland came to know each other. Mr. Fairfield considered him a friend and gave him the honor of naming his new town after him. On several occasions, travelers have come into town from Interstate 70 inquiring about how the town came by its name. Those inquiring often have the name "McFarland" or have a "McFarland" relative.

Compiled by A. N. Winkler