[4] Known as a cow town in the 1870s, when the Kansas Pacific Railroad operated a stockyard here for shipping cattle to eastern markets, in the 21st century, it serves as the trading center of the rural county.

Once called "The Wickedest Cattletown in Kansas", the city is named for Fort Ellsworth, which was built in 1864.

[5] Due to speculation on imminent railroad construction, the population of Ellsworth boomed to over two thousand by the time it was incorporated in 1867.

Ellsworth was a bustling cattle town for a time during the late 1860s, when the Kansas Pacific Railroad had a stop and stockyards there.

During the late 1860s into the 1870s, Ellsworth was known for being one of the "wickedest" cattle towns, the scene of numerous killings following shootouts between drunken cowboys.

[6] Wild Bill Hickok ran for Ellsworth County Sheriff in 1868, but was defeated by veteran Union Army soldier E. W. Kingsbury.

Kingsbury was an effective lawman, but relied on local marshals to patrol the town, as he also had to police the county.

[7] Ellsworth marshal Will Semans was shot and killed on September 26, 1869, while attempting to disarm a rowdy man in a dance hall.

[8] For a time during this period, two small-time outlaws known only as Craig and Johnson began bullying people around the community, often committing armed robbery.

Before long, citizens formed a vigilance squad and captured both men, hanging them in a lynching near the Smoky Hill River.

[citation needed] Billy Thompson fled, fearing that he would be lynched for the death of the popular sheriff.

[11] By the late 1870s the crime rate had dropped dramatically, as fewer cowboys came through after Kansas Pacific closed its stockyard here.

The city and activists have plans to restore Ellsworth's Signature Insurance Building for use as the National Drovers Hall of Fame.

Funds for the project are being raised party from an annual cattle drive down Main Street and Douglas Avenue; it is one of the few in the United States that is historically accurate.

[16] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.43 square miles (6.29 km2), all land.

Summers are hot and humid and winters are moderately cold with wide variations in temperature.

[33][34] K243AR, a translator of radio station KRSL in Russell, Kansas, broadcasts from Ellsworth on 96.5 FM playing a Christian format.

[35] In 2008, TradeWind Energy and Enel North America made Ellsworth and Lincoln counties home to the Smoky Hills Wind Farm.

Its 155 wind turbines have a total capacity of 250MW[36] and are installed on approximately 20,000 acres of agricultural land.

[37] Some 100 landowners have lease arrangements to have the Smoky Hills Wind Farm's turbines installed on their properties.

The facility, which reached commercial operation in October 2012, sells 100% of its electrical output under a long-term power purchase agreement with Westar, which has a BBB+ credit rating.

Post Rock Wind facility spreads across an area of 23,000 acres in Ellsworth and Lincoln counties of Kansas