Sunflower, Kansas Sunflower, Kansas Sunflower was a rural community in Center Township in Mitchell County, Kansas, United States, established in 1890. Walter and Honora (Tilton) Cooke came to Mitchell County, Kansas in 1884. They leased with an intent to buy the NE 1/4 of Section 36 in Center Township from the State of Kansas. By 1890, a small community had formed. A blacksmith, creamery, school and small store had been established by 1895. The Cooke's purchased the property on February 23, 1897 for $1,154.00. On April 27, 1898, the Sunflower community was recognized by the U.S. Government by installing a post office.
Mississippi State Penitentiary a railroad spur called "Gordon Station". The state of Mississippi purchased land in Sunflower County in January 1901 to establish a state prison. In 1901 four stockades were constructed, and the state moved prisoners to begin clearing land for crop cultivation. The land was undeveloped Mississippi Delta bottomland and forest, fertile but dense with undergrowth and trees. Around the time the Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP) opened, Sunflower County residents objected to having executions performed at the prison. They feared that the county would be stigmatized as a "death county". Mississippi originally performed executions of condemned criminals in their counties of