Biohazard and Pathogen Disinfection in Larned, KS

Larned is the county seat of Pawnee County in south-central Kansas, with a population of 3,769 in the 2020 census.

The city was laid out in December 1873 on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad at the confluence of the Pawnee and Arkansas rivers — its first post office had been established in 1872 and it was incorporated in 1886.

Larned is named for nearby Fort Larned, which in turn was named for Colonel Benjamin F. Larned, paymaster general of the U.S. Army from 1854 until his death in 1862.

Fort Larned National Historic Site, six miles west of the city, preserves a frontier army post established in 1859 to protect traffic on the Santa Fe Trail; the fort operated until 1878 and its sandstone buildings have been fully restored.

African American 'Buffalo Soldiers' of Company A of the 10th Cavalry were among the troops stationed at Fort Larned during its years guarding the Santa Fe Trail.

The Santa Fe Trail Center, about two miles west of Larned, tells the story of the Santa Fe Trail with a museum and library plus a sod house, one-room schoolhouse and dugout on its grounds.

Visible Santa Fe Trail wagon ruts can still be seen near Larned at the Fort Larned site and at Coon Creek Crossing on the trail's Wet Route.

Pawnee County, created in 1867 and organized in 1872 with Larned as its seat, was named for the Pawnee Indians, who had long used the area as hunting grounds.

The first home in Larned was built by Captain Henry Booth, who had served as postmaster at Fort Larned since 1869 and resigned when the town was founded to become its postmaster instead.

Larned is home to Larned State Hospital, one of Kansas's principal state institutions, a major employer in Pawnee County.