In the 1870s this area was settled by people of diverse backgrounds who shared the promise of the land, and with an influx of Mennonites and the railroad's birth in the 1880s, the town's success was very likely. Hesston was named for 1884 settlers Amos and Abraham L. Hess, owners of the land on which the city was platted in 1886. In 1908 A.L. Hess donated 80 acres for Hesston College, whose first building, Green Gables, opened in 1909 with D.H. Bender as president, and in 1995 the Gables was torn down. Early town builders included Rapp, Randall, Wenger, Grabill, McNutt, and Shaver. Three homes built from cement blocks made by Lyon Bros., Hesston's first factory, and C.T. Barton's 1886 grocery store still exist. Businesses that have impacted Hesston's growth include Hesston Corp., King Construction Co., and Excel, and the pioneers' legacy of perseverance continues in Hesston today.