Pittsburg

Pittsburg's birth came with the beginning of the coal boom in Crawford County. Frank Playter, a banker and lawyer who resided in Girard during the late 1800's, traveled as far away as Boston to convince the railroads to lay track through the center of the coal fields in this extreme Southeastern part of Kansas.

After failed attempts, Playter finally sold his idea. Although a rail line ran through Girard, it missed the coal fields. So a point in the center of Baker township was designated. Playter found the government marker where two sections of lines met at the center of the township, and dubbed his town as New Pittsburg. in May of 1876.

New Pittsburg was changed to Pittsburg in 1881. Pittsburg was once the 4th largest city in Kansas with populations exceeding 50,000 during the late 1800's and early 1900's. It was then and still is the largest city in Crawford County.

Frontenac

Frontenac was founded in 1886 as a result of the expansion of the railroads near major coal sources. For all intent and purpose, the town was to be named Craigsville. No one really knows the reason Topeka, the state capital, recorded the name as Frontenac when they requested the official name for the town.

As was most of Crawford County, the Frontenac area was spotted with productive mines. Unfortunately, coal mines were unstable and dangerous. The original Santa Fe Mine #1 was the first to sink and marks the City of Frontenac's present location. Tradition continued on Nov. 9, 1888 when an underground explosion in Mine #2 claimed 47 lives. Mine #2 would go down in history as the scene of the greatest mine disaster in the state of Kansas.

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