CHAPTER II. 
GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF THE KANSAS 
GYPSUM AREA. 
Geographic Location and Division of Deposits. 
The Kansas gypsum deposits of economic value form a belt 
trending northeast and southwest across the state, as shown on 
the map in Plate I. The belt of exposed rock varies in width 
from five miles at the north to twenty-five miles in the central 
part, and to 140 miles near the southern line, with a length of 
230 miles. 
This area is naturally divided into three districts, which, 
from the important centers of manufacture, are named: The 
northern or Blue Rapids area, in Marshall county ; the central 
or Gypsum City area, in Dickinson and Saline counties; and 
the southern or Medicine Lodge area, in Barber and Comanche 
counties. These areas appear to be separate, but careful map- 
ping shows a number of isolated intermediate deposits, which 
serve to connect the northern and central areas, and indicate 
connection between the central and southern areas. These con- 
necting links are found near Randolph and in the reservoir ex- 
cavation at Manhattan, in Riley county; at Longford, in the 
southern part of Clay county; and near Manchester, in the 
northern part of Dickinson county. 
Gypsum deposits of economic importance are found near Pea- 
body and Burns, in Marion county; in Sedgwick county, near 
Mulvane, and in Sumner county, near Geuda Springs. 
From an examination of a map of west central United States 
“with the gypsum deposits indicated thereon, it will be seen that 
if the northeast line of the Kansas deposits is extended it will 
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