Hillsboro (Kansas, USA)
Hillsboro, a town (population 2,200 in 1955; 2,854 in 2000) in Marion County, Kansas, was founded in 1879 and named after John Gillispie Hill. The town, predominantly Mennonite, is located on the northern edge of the largest Kansas Mennonite settlement, stretching south beyond Newton. In Hillsboro and the immediate surrounding area there were nine Mennonite congregations in the 1950s: First Mennonite Church (General Conference Mennonite (GCM)), Hillsboro; Mennonite Brethren Church, Hillsboro; Brudertal Mennonite Church (GCM) (first to be organized) ; Johannestal Mennonite Church (GCM); Ebenfeld Mennonite Brethren Church; Steinreich Mennonite Brethren Church; Gnadenau Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Church; Alexanderfeld Church of God in Christ Mennonite; and Springfeld Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Church. The Mennonites settling in and around Hillsboro came from various parts of the Molotschna settlement, Russia (General Conference, Mennonite Brethren, and Krimmer Mennonite Brethren groups), from Poland (Johannestal), and a few from Prussia (Brudertal). In addition to the Mennonite churches there are the following: Zion Evangelical Lutheran, Evangelical Church, and Seventh-Day Adventist. Hillsboro is located on the branch of the Santa Fe Railway between Marion and McPherson. It became more and more the headquarters of the Mennonite Brethren with the Mennonite Brethren Publishing House, Tabor College, Mennonite Brethren, Board of Missions, and the Mennonite Brethren General Conference Headquarters. The present Mennonite community hospital was founded by the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren as Salem Hospital. There is also the Salem Home for the Aged.
In addition to a number of parochial schools in existence in and around Hillsboro in the early days, H. D. Penner founded here the Preparatory School in 1897 which was private till 1913 and operated by the Mennonite churches from 1913 to 1937 under J. H. Epp (see Hillsboro Preparatory School). Among Hillsboro's 140 businesses operating in 1955, the Central Kansas Co-operative Creamery and the Buller Manufacturing Company were outstanding.
Bibliography
Kliewer, Marion W. "Mennonite Community Settlement." Mennonite Life (January 1954): 14 ff.
Writer’s Program (U.S.). A Guide to Hillsboro, Kansas. Hillsboro: Mennonite Brethren Publishing House, 1940.
Maps
| Author(s) | Cornelius Krahn |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Krahn, Cornelius. "Hillsboro (Kansas, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 3 Dec 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hillsboro_(Kansas,_USA)&oldid=170366.
APA style
Krahn, Cornelius. (1956). Hillsboro (Kansas, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 3 December 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hillsboro_(Kansas,_USA)&oldid=170366.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 742. All rights reserved.
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