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

Seen as a potentially valuable asset for the community, the hotel was financed in part through a public subscription campaign, and constructed on land provided by the Chamber.

The Pratt Hotel Company owned and operated the hotel and hired Wichita architect Samuel S. Voigt and Kansas City contractor Webster L. Elson to design and build the building.

Elson not only supervised the rapid construction of the "fire-proof" building, he was a founding member of the Pratt Hotel Company, and he retained an ownership interest in the property for many years.

The community hospital was established on the eighth floor of the building in 1932, complete with an operating room and an x-ray machine.

Architecturally, the building is significant as an early and sophisticated example of the Art Deco style in central Kansas.

In January 2015 it was listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places for its local significance in the areas of architecture and community planning and development.

[9] During World War II, the nearby Pratt Army Airfield was the first base used for training Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber crews and also served as a staging area for getting early aircraft combat-ready, in what became known as the Battle of Kansas.

[10] The state headquarters of Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks was constructed southeast of the town.

[11] Pratt is located approximately eighty miles west of Wichita.

[12] The 2020 United States census counted 6,603 people, 2,646 households, and 1,545 families in Pratt.

37.6% of households consisted of individuals and 18.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

34.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Bus service is provided daily eastward to Wichita and westward to Pueblo, Colorado by BeeLine Express (subcontractor of Greyhound Lines).