Hyatt

      In the fall of 1856 there were 87 members of the Free State Militia stationed near Lawrence. They were mustered out of service November 30, 1856. Most of these men were unmarried and about 80 of them joined Thaddeus Hyatt and W.F.M. Arny to form a colony and they settled in Anderson County. On or about December 15th they arrived at the proposed townsite. It was located on the North half of the Southeast quarter and the Northeast quarter of Section 10 and South half of the Southeast quarter, Section 3, Township 21, Range 19 of Washington Township. The men began selecting claims along Cedar Creek and near the townsite. The original camp for the men was along Cedar Creek west of the town. They lived in tents and endured many hardships through the winter. 

     During the winter months they cut timber for buildings and erected a hotel, a tore and a blacksmith shop. When the spring of 1857 they erected a sawmill, probably the first in Anderson County and in the fall attached a gristmill to the sawmill. The town was platted and named Hyatt after Thaddeus Hyatt. W.F.M. Arny was named president of the Hyatt Town Company in February and the town filed in Lecompton. 

     During the summer of 1857 the first store opened selling dry goods and groceries. A post office was established there in June, 1857, and it was probably the first post office in Anderson County. July, 1857, brought much sicknesses and many deaths to the town. Building progressed and the townspeople built a school and a city park, sometimes known as a promenade. There was a stage/wagon stop in the town where five trails crossed going to different towns. 

     The first railroad through the county was the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Ft. Gibson and it ran through the town of Garnett. Later the railroad was known as the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston. Not wanting to be outdone by Garnett a railroad company was formed to run a railroad through Hyatt, the Jefferson City and Neosho Valley Railroad, The company failed when they could now secure land grants.

     Hyatt was in competition to become the county seat of Anderson county with Garnett. Following the epidemic of 1857 and when Garnett became the county seat in 1859 people began leaving Hyatt. It was also about this time "Pikes Peak Gold Fever" struck and many of Hyatt's citizen left for Colorado to seek their fortunes and the little town quickly disappeared.  

     Hyatt was also known as Hyatville or Hiatville.