"Downs is a railroad town, 208 miles west of Atchison on the Central Branch Missouri Pacific railroad; it is the end of the second freight and first passenger divisions west from Atchison, and the junction of the North and South Solomon divisions; the town was laid out and named in July, 1879 ... Downs enjoys a splendid trade from the surrounding country, which is as good a farming community as there is in the State.  Immense quantities of grain and stock are annually shipped from this point."

                                           The Downs Times, 1888