“Imagine buying land from a railroad instead of a real estate agent. That was once part of settling Kansas.”
Imagine buying land from a railroad instead of a real estate agent. That was once part of settling Kansas.
On March 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed legislation that helped pave the way for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway to receive roughly 3 million acres of Kansas land. It was an unusual arrangement: the federal government wanted to use land grants to encourage railroad expansion, attract settlers to the West, and help turn open land into thriving communities.
The railroad did more than lay tracks. It built town sites and marketed land to prospective settlers, including immigrants from overseas. Some buyers received free or reduced-cost transportation, and the railroad sometimes helped pay to move their household goods. The goal was to bring people to Kansas to buy land, build homes, start farms, and create communities along the rail lines.
As settlers purchased property, farms spread across the prairie and towns grew around the railroad. Some of those communities still exist today, such as Newton, Kansas, which grew around the Santa Fe Railway in the 1870s and still has its historic railroad depot today.
For title researchers, stories like this show how a property’s history can reach much further back than its current deed. A property’s ownership trail may begin with a government land grant, pass through a railroad, and continue through generations of private owners.
From the first land sale to the latest deed, there’s a story behind every property. At Real Title Services, we help clients uncover it through title searches across Kansas and nationwide.
Angela Sharp
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