Canton Schools

Canton students attend school in the Canton-Galva Unified School District 419. Total enrollment for Canton-Galva is 418 (2015). Students can participate in many activities including FBLA, Scholar’s Bowl and TSA.

Canton Lifestyle

Canton is home to 764 (2013) residents. Canton offers a small town community with access to a variety of local attractions including the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge, McPherson Water Park and Kansas Cosmosphere Space Center. 

Canton Transportation

Canton is located north of highway KS-56. McPherson is 20 minutes away. Hutchinson and Salina are both under 50 minutes from Canton.

Canton Local Attractions/Activities

Canton is home to the Canton United Methodist Church, Canton First Christian Church and First Baptist Church. Surrounding towns like Salina, McPherson and Hutchinson offer many local attractions.

Maxwell Wildlife Refuge

Known as Maxwell Wildlife Refuge, this unique area located six miles north of Canton possesses one of the finest herds of buffalo in the United States, along with elk and other wild game, birds and wildflowers.

The Maxwell Game Preserve which opened to the public in 1951 was established because of a provision in the will of the late Henry Irving Maxwell dictating that the bulk of his estate be used for the benefit of the public.  He instructed the handler of his property to buy not less than three nor more than six sections of land, suitably improve it and stock it with buffalo, antelope, deer, prairie chicken and quail.  Mr. Maxwell's will also stipulated that the proposed game preserve be under the control of the government; therefore, it is under the jurisdiction of the Fish and Game Commission of the State of Kansas.

(Source- City of Canton-www.cantonks.org)

Rolling Hills Zoo

Here you can get face-to-face with a rare white camel, an Indian rhino, a curious orangutan, an ornery aardvark or many of the other animals of the 100+ species of wildlife at home in our zoo. Great care has been taken to provide our animals spacious and naturalistic environments throughout 60 acres of beautifully landscaped park. 

(Source- Rolling Hills Zoo-www.rollinghillswildlife.com)

Kansas Cosmosphere Space Center

What is now one of the world’s premier space museums was once the dream of a Hutchinson civic leader, Patricia Brooks Carey. Her vision to create one of the first public planetariums in the central United States had humble beginnings. In 1962, the Hutchinson Planetarium opened inside the Poultry Building on the Kansas State Fairgrounds with a used star projector and rented folding chairs.

Four years later, the Hutchinson Planetarium relocated to the campus of Hutchinson Community College, in what today houses Dr. Goddard’s Lab.

In 1976, Carey and the Hutchinson Planetarium’s board of directors began planning to significantly expand the facility. They sought the advice of former employee Max Ary, who had worked for the planetarium while going to college. Ary was the director of Ft. Worth’s Noble Planetarium at the time and happened to be serving on a Smithsonian committee that placed tens of thousands of space artifacts in museums after the Apollo program concluded.

So the Cosmosphere was in the right place at the right time.

Launched as the Kansas Cosmosphere and Discover Center in 1980, the new facility featured permanent exhibit galleries in the Hall of Space Museum, one of the first OMNIMAX theaters in the world and the planetarium that started it all.

In 1997, the facility was further renovated and expanded to its present size, 105,000 square feet, nearly tripling the area devoted to the Hall of Space Museum. Today the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is one of the most comprehensive space museums in the world and one of the leading educational tourist attractions in the United States.

(Source- Kansas Cosmosphere Space Center-www.cosmo.org)

McPherson Water Park

You can select from an assortment of activities; cruise the 500 foot lazy river, a giant water slide, deep diving area, 8 lane 50 meter pool and a children’s spray recreation area. The McPherson Water Park offers fun for all ages!

(Source- McPherson Water Park-www.mcphersonwaterpark.com)

Canton –History

Early pioneers heading west, no doubt some following the Santa Fe Trail, staked claim to property that eventually became known as the City of Canton.

Squire Holmes, who came to the area from Canton, Ohio, named the township and later the city - Canton - because he loved the name. 

After the Santa Fe Railroad was completed to this place and the village had grown to over 300 inhabitants, it was declared and incorporated as a city of the third class on July 16, 1880. 

The first mayor and five council members were elected on August 2, 1880, and their first order of business was to pass the first city ordinance "An Ordinance Concerning Intoxicating Liquors" on August 31, 1880.

In the newly organized city, the first to engage in business was W.H. George, M.D., who erected a building to be used as a drug store and office, with J.C. Hall to assist in the care of the store.

John Murphy established the first grocery in town followed by general merchandise stores, clothing stores, blacksmith shops and other necessary suppliers.

The first hotel was the old Perine house located on the present site of the Christian Church. 

In 1880 the first newspaper was founded in Canton by Amos Baurn and was called the Canton Monitor.

Women began taking an active part in government in 1890 when Mrs. Belle Gray was elected mayor of the city.

(Source- City of Canton-www.cantonks.org)