Once called "The Wickedest cattle town in Kansas", the city is named for Fort Ellsworth, which was built in 1867.  

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Due to speculation on imminent railroad construction, the population of Ellsworth boomed to over two thousand by the time it was incorporated in 1867.

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It has since been said, "Abilene, the first, Dodge City, the last, but Ellsworth the wickedest."

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Ellsworth was a bustling cattle town for a time during the late 1860s, when the Kansas Pacific Railroad had a stop and stockyards there.  Cattle were driven up from Texas to this point, and they shipped to major markets.