Neosho Rapids and the County That Changed Its Name

The small Lyon County town of Neosho Rapids takes its name from a stretch of whitewater on the Neosho River where settlers first laid out a town site in eighteen fifty-five, calling it Italia, then Florence, before settling on Neosho Rapids in eighteen fifty-seven. The county around it has an even more pointed story. Organized by the first Kansas Territorial Legislature in eighteen fifty-five as Breckinridge County, it was named for John C.

Breckinridge, who was elected Vice President of the United States the following year. When Breckinridge sided with the Confederacy, county residents wasted little time renaming their home for Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union general killed in the Civil War. The county's commitment was clear: no Confederate's name would stay on Kansas soil.