Walker, Ellis Co., Kansas

Includes the following communities:

History:

Walker is an unincorporated community located in Herzog Township of Ellis County along the Union Pacific Railroad about 4 miles northwest of Victoria. Settlers from Ohio arrived there in 1872. Volga Germans arrived in the area in 1876. A school was built there in 1893.

In 1942, the Army Corps of Engineers built an airfield 2.5 miles northwest of Walker as a satellite field for the Smoky Hill Army Airfield in Salina. Three concrete runways were constructed. At its height in August 1944, there were over 6,000 personnel affiliated with the Walker-Hays Airfield (also known as the Victoria-Pratt Airfield). It was used for training crews to fly B-29 bombers. Following the end of the war in 1945, the airfield became inactive on 31 January 1946.

Congregations:

St. Ann Catholic Parish - Walker

Surnames:

Arn(h)old (Beauregard)

Dinkel (Herzog)

Rohleder (Rohleder)

Frank (Herzog)

Volga German Families:

The following Volga German families settled in and around Walker, Kansas:

Arnhold from Beauregard
Billinger from Herzog
Dinkel from Herzog
Domme
Dreiling from Herzog
Frank from Louis
Hammerschmidt from Herzog
Kuhn from Herzog
Leiker from Ober-Monjou
Mermis from Herzog
Quint from Louis
Riedel
Rohleder from Rohleder
Rohr from Mariental
Sander from Herzog
Scheck from Herzog
Stramel / Stroemel from Kamenka
von Feldt
Windholz from Herzog

Volga Colonies:

Notable Individuals:

Sources:

- At Home in Ellis County, Kansas: 1867-1992. Hays, KS: Ellis County Historical Society, 1991. (online)
- Transcript of The Golden Jubilee of German-Russian Settlements of Ellis and Rush Counties, Kansas, 1926.

Resources:

Saint Ann's Cemetery (findagrave.com)

External Links:

Walker, Kansas (German Capital of Kansas)
Walker, Kansas (wikipedia)
Walker, Kansas - Immigrants to Airbase (Legends of Kansas)