Canton is a city in McPherson County, Kansas, United States.

[6] For many millennia, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans.

In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase for 2.83 cents per acre.

From the 1820s to the 1870s, one of the most significant land routes in the United States was the Santa Fe Trail.

In 1867, McPherson County was established within the Kansas Territory, which included the land for modern day Canton.

As early as 1875, city leaders of Marion held a meeting to consider a branch railroad from Florence.

[10] The line was leased and operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

[11] In 1992, the line from Marion to McPherson was sold to Central Kansas Railway.

In 1993, after heavy flood damage, the line from Marion through Canton to McPherson was abandoned and removed.

The original branch line connected Florence, Marion, Canada, Hillsboro, Lehigh, Canton, Galva, McPherson, Conway, Windom, Little River, Mitchell, Lyons, Chase, Ellinwood.

[6] In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway built a main line from Herington through Canton to Pratt.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.50 square miles (1.29 km2), all of it land.

[13] The 2020 United States census counted 685 people, 283 households, and 185 families in Canton.

[33] On July 21, 2008, Stephen Colbert made a comment on The Colbert Report about John McCain making a campaign stop in Canton, Ohio, and "not the crappy Canton in Georgia.

"[34] The comment resulted in a local uproar, which prompted Stephen to apologize for the story during his July 30, 2008, show, insisting that he was incorrect and that the "real" crappy Canton was Canton, Kansas, after which he made several jokes at the town's expense.

[35][36] Reaction from Mayor Brad Smiley[37] and local residents was negative[38] and Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius invited Colbert to "spend a night" in Canton's historic jail.