The 1880’s were times of great prosperity and growth in the entire State of Kansas; and Frontenac was one of the many “boom towns” which sprang up overnight. Its phenomenal development resulted from the discovery of rich coal deposits in the area. In response to a worldwide call for workers to mine the coal, immigrants of many nationalities arrived in Southeast Kansas and made the population of Frontenac a veritable “League of Nations.”

According to legend, when James Devore arrived in May 1886, he found “no houses, no stores, and no people” on the site of the future city of Frontenac. In the summer of 1886, the Cherokee and Pittsburg Coal and Mining Company, a scion of the Santa Fe Railroad, developed its first mine just north of Pittsburg, the eventual site of the city of Frontenac. By December 1886 (accordion to the Girard Press), Frontenac had 24 new houses, was inhabited by a large number of men, most of which worked at the Santa Fe Mine No. 1, and was officially named.

The first decade proved to be dramatic for the town and the surrounding community, due to the expanding mine business and the resulting population explosion. Immigrants arrived from various European countries to fill the labor demand. During the last decade of the 19th century and in the early 20th century the town was populated by immigrant families from eastern and southeastern Europe, predominately Sicilian, Italian, as well as ethnic Italians and Slavic people under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During this time, the town housed various ethnic lodges and drinking parlors, despite the state's increasingly severe ban on the distribution, sale, and manufacture of alcoholic beverages. 

In the early days, as with other mining communities, saloons, alcohol, and the inevitable violence were present in Frontenac. Newspapers of the era, as well as personal recollections, recall many unsolved murders in Frontenac and the surrounding mining towns. Unfortunately, law enforcement was limited and received no cooperation. Despite the troubled times, there were times of levity. Dances were held for baptisms, weddings, and other occasions; merely requiring a keg of beer and an accordion player. Other social gatherings revolved around the various fraternal lodges, formed along ethnic lines.

On October 24,1929, Black Thursday occurred on Wall Street. The disintegration of the stock market would bring about the deepest economic depression in the memory of this country. It took some time for the effects to be felt here, but it did hit, and before long, banks here were declared insolvent. Many lost their savings and foreclosures were declared on debtors. With the additional decline in the coal industry, this economic reversal only added to the poverty of the Frontenac area. Following World War II, coal mining, the town's long-standing occupational base, collapsed.

The aforementioned information was obtained from the Sacred Heart Catholic Church website and the city of Frontenac.