Norton, KS

Norton is Norton County’s seat, founded in 1872 on the north side of Prairie Dog Creek. The city spent years dealing with county-seat disputes before Norton became the permanent seat in 1878, which gives the courthouse role a little extra local weight. Before Keith Sebelius Lake was built in 1963, flooding along the creek was a recurring problem; the reservoir changed that part of the map. Norton USD 211 serves local schools, while the county and lake tie the city to the wider northwestern Kansas landscape. The quick local read is county-seat history, Prairie Dog Creek, and a town shaped by water control.