Great Bend, the county seat of Barton county, is one of the thriving little cities of central Kansas. It is located at the historic big bend of the Arkansas river, and is on the main line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., a branch of which diverges at this point and runs northwest into Rush county. A branch of the Missouri Pacific extends from Hoisington to Great Bend. The town has electricity for light and power, waterworks, fire department, sewer system, a college, public library, 8 churches, an opera house, 3 banks, grain elevators, flour mills, a creamery, an ice plant, a mattress factory, a broom factory, 3 newspapers (the Tribune and Democrat, both daily, and weekly, and the Press, a weekly). A religious monthly is also published. There is a daily stage to Hoisington. There are a number of stores well stocked with merchandise, a good court-house and school house. The town is supplied with express and telegraph offices and has an international money order postoffice with six rural routes. The population according to the census of 1910 was 4,622.

Great Bend was located in 1871 by the Great Bend Town company, of which C. R. S. Curtis, M. F. Bassett, J. L. Curtis, J. T. Morton, James Israel and A. R. McIntyre were members. They erected the first building for hotel purposes. Three or four other houses were erected that year. In 1872 the population grew very rapidly. The railroad came through in July, which encouraged business men to erect buildings and open stores, hotels, and shops of all kinds. Great Bend was made the county seat about the same time. Early in 1873 the town was incorporated and A. A. Hurd was elected mayor. The courthouse was built in that year. About this time the cattle trade centered at this point and the town was the headquarters for cattle men until 1876 when through an act of the legislature the cattle trade was moved farther west. In 1878 a disastrous fire occurred which destroyed a number of the best business houses, the loss aggregating $20,000. A small-pox epidemic visited Great Bend in 1882 and the city was under absolute quarantine for a number of weeks. Fifteen people died of the plague.