Founded: 1873, Pop (year 2000) 1,208, Elev:: 1940 ft. Located in eastern
Ellis County southwest of
Hays City and between Toulon and Walker along Hwy 40. The
Smoky Hill River has carved a huge valley on the south side of town, just out of site from the Interstate. Today Victoria is a prosperous, tightly-knit community that offers traditional small town values and just minutes from the nearby city of Hays and from
Fort Hays State University.
The current town of Victoria was originally established as two distinct communities. The first was Victoria, named after Queen Victoria, founded by 38 Scottish immigrants under the leadership of George Grant. The home of George Grant, who introduced Aberdeen-Angus cattle to the U.S. still stands and is a historic site.
Herzog was founded in 1876 by 23 families of German immigrants from the steppes of Southern Russian around the Volga River where their ancestors had migrated a century before at the invitation of Empress Catherine the Great.