Effingham, the seat of Atchison county high school, is an incorporated town, located sixteen miles west of Atchison, on the Central Branch railroad, and was first platted by William Osborne April 4, 1868, who built the first hundred miles of the Central Branch railroad, and is located on a part of the southwest quarter of section 15 and the northwest quarter of section 22, township 6, range 18. The original plat contained only eight blocks and was subsequently cancelled. February 6, 1871, Major W. F. Downs, land commissioner of the Central Branch railroad, filed another plat in which one block was dedicated as a public park and the streets numbered from one to ten, with cross streets as follows: Elizabeth, Seabury, Howard, George, William, and John. At the opening of the Central Branch railroad Effingham enjoyed quite a boom and it has remained one of the finest towns in northeastern Kansas ever since. There was a settlement around Effingham for a number of years prior to the location of the townsite, and it was quite a trading point. Effingham is located on a broad sweep of prairie land, but there is very little of romance or legend connected with the town. There is one thing, however, for which it has always been noted, and to this extent Effingham occupies an unique place in the towns, not only of Atchison county, but of Kansas, namely: It has never been without a good hotel. The original hotel was known far and wide throughout the country and was conducted by Aunt Betty Benton, a famous cook, who not only gave her guests good things to eat, but made of her hotel a favorite stopping place for the traveling public on account of the hospitable way in which she ran it. Uncle Jack Martin succeeded Aunt Betty and for many years thereafter kept up the high standard set by her. Then came Thomas F. Cook, whose kindly welcome made friends for him among the hundreds of visitors that came to Effingham from year to year, and who never left his hotel without a full meal. Mr. Cook was succeeded by Mrs. Frank Pitman, and she in turn was succeeded by Mrs. Davis, who, in 1915, is conducting the hotel at Effingham and maintains the high standard of excellence of food and hospitality set by her predecessors. [Illustration: Main Street, Looking West, Effingham, Kansas ]