Gamblers all, they decided to play a game of poker and the winner would name the town. With the building of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, the population of the town increased greatly, and shipping of the farm products became a major industry here. These crops now include grain, stock and poultry. So named because the hills and creek north of the town site were covered with lovely cedar trees, Cedarville was founded in 1871. Although farming and cattle raising are the major industries of this peaceful Kansas town, it is also known for its surgical instrument manufacture.
Farm machinery is manufactured here, a convenience for farmers on the surrounding lands.
A cheese processing plant uses local dairy products. Chetopa is at the hub of a rich farming area producing grain, livestock, poultry and dairy products and, according to recent surveys, there are deposits of coal, gas, oil and metallic ores in the vicinity. In 1887 the first railroad was built through here. In 1888 three men had the town surveyed. In the heart of the Barton County oil fields, Claflin counts oil as one of its leading industries.