LASR.net Homepage

Menu

Pittsburg, Kansas

Pittsburg, Kansas

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.


Crawford County has 3,597 acres of walk-in hunting.

Attractions and Upcoming Events

Pittsburg Public Library

The Pittburg Public Library, listed on the National Register of Historical Landmarks, is an example of the Prarie School of Architecture. Built in 1910

Pittsburg, KS Carnegie Libraries

Fisk Opus 106 Pipe Organ

The Opus 106 Pipe Organ is a superb mechanical-action pipe organ built by one of the finest organ builders in the world. It arrived on the Pittsburg State campus in March, 1995, and was presented to the university in inaugural festivities, October 1995.

Pittsburg, KS Arts

Pittsburg Aquatic Center

10,000 square feet of Summer Fun!

Pittsburg, KS Water Parks

Big Brutus RV Park and Museum

One of the most unique day trips in Southeast Kansas is to Big Brutus, 11,000,000 pounds of fun! Big Brutus is the world's second largest electric mining shovel. Walk through its cavernous body, sit in the operators chair or climb 16

Pittsburg, KS Family Fun-Referred

Mined Land Wildlife Areas

Located in Crawford, Cherokee, and Labette Counties, the Mined Land Wildlife Area (MLWA) encompasses about 14,500 acres in 46 scattered tracts. Most of this wildlife area was once surface mined for coal. About 200

Pittsburg, KS Wildlife Areas

Things to do near Pittsburg, KS

Marais des Cygnes NWR Birding

Birding at Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge is especially good in late spring when over 30 species of warblers migr...

Opothle Yahola

Speaker - Prophet - Medicine Man of the Upper Creek Nation Opothle Yahola was born in the late 1700s in the tribal town...

Burlington Post Office

Coffey County Historical Society and Museum

Baxter Springs Historical Museum