Parsons is a city in Labette County, Kansas, United States.

It is home to Labette Community College and the Parsons State Hospital & Training Center.

The location for the town was chosen because it was on a flat ridge between the Labette Creek and Little Labette Creek and provided an ideal site for where the two branches of the railroad being built from Junction City, Kansas and Sedalia, Missouri would meet.

The railroad commenced building a massive rail yard, foundry, and locomotive shop at Parsons; for many years this was the third largest railroad facility west of the Mississippi River, with only Kansas City and Los Angeles being larger.

In the early part of the twentieth century, Parsons operated its own street car system, and also had an interurban electric railroad connecting it to the nearby cities of Cherryvale, Independence, Coffeyville, and Nowata.

The community has rallied behind the current plant operator, Day & Zimmerman, to keep the company on the grounds after closure and to keep those jobs and more in the Parsons area.

(See link to "Great Plains Industrial Park" in "External Links", below) Parsons is also home to the Parsons State Hospital & Training Center, which has been in operation since 1903 when it was opened as the Kansas State Hospital for Epileptics.

[7] At that time it began providing programs for individuals with developmental disabilities.

[citation needed] Parsons is also home to Labette County Medical Center.

The sale of Katy Industries to Union Pacific, in 1988, eventually saw the loss of scores of railroad jobs and, in effect, severed a major part of Parsons' city history which stretched back to its 1871 incorporation.

While, in return, the city received a million dollars to help it recover (and so that it would not file lengthy paperwork opposing the sale and thus delaying it), that money is kept in a fund by the city government, which uses the accrued interest on economic development projects.

[citation needed] On April 19, 2000, an F3 tornado cut a devastating path of destruction through the center of Parsons.

[10] On June 5, 2006 the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Parsons a 2006 Great American Main Street Award winner for its successful efforts in revitalizing its downtown area through historic preservation.

The award was presented during the 2006 National Main Streets Conference in New Orleans.

The Kansas Army Ammunition Plant (KSAAP) is located southeast of the city.

The installation is actively used as a munitions loading, assembly, and packing facility.

[19] The 2020 United States census counted 9,600 people, 4,015 households, and 2,251 families in Parsons.

34.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

33.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.