On permanent organization of the county in 1870, Beloit was selected as the
county seat of Mitchell County, Kansas, and is located northeast of the center
of the county on the Solomon River. The town site of Beloit was first settled
by A.A. Bell in 1868 with the idea of improving the water power and for some
time was known as Willow Springs. Beloit is named after Beloit, Wisconsin.
Beloit sits at the junction of the Union Pacific and the Missouri Pacific
Railroads.
Local legend has it that the local Indians advised Bell to locate the town
at a certain bend of the Solomon River to protect the town from tornadoes. To
this date downtown Beloit has been hit with a tornado only once, since November
1922.
The town of Beloit was platted March 26, 1872, and the original description
as found in the recorder's office covers all of Section 9, and the south half
of the southeast quarter and south half of the southwest quarter of Section 4,
Town 7 and Range 7 west. The proprietors of the town were T.F. Hersey, A.A.
Bell, George Campbell, Alexander Campbell, C.H. Morrill, Edward Valentine, W.C.
Ingram, Daniel Kepler and Vinton Whitehurst. The town grew very rapidly, and in
July 1872, was incorporated as a city of the third class. On March 10, 1879,
Gov. John P. St. John proclaimed Beloit a city of the second class.
Beloit was home to the Beloit Juvenile Correctional Facility of the Kansas
Juvenile Justice Authority.
On August 28, 2014, the city suffered a major hailstorm. The hail lasted for
around 30 minutes and was the size of baseballs. The storm destroyed roofs,
siding, windows, and caused heavy flooding. The storm was severe enough to be
featured on the CBS Evening News.