List of ghost towns in Kansas

This is an incomplete list of ghost towns in the state of Kansas.

Causes

Many reasons exist as to why a community becomes abandoned (or nearly so).

Transportation: With the development of major highways and interstates, people were willing to travel farther for goods and services causing local businesses in smaller towns to lose customers and ultimately close. The more businesses that close, the more people are apt to want to move away to a bigger town. Transportation has played a major role in settlement in Kansas. As traffic from the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails increased, towns boomed along them. When railroads were established towns developed along the tracks or even moved to where the tracks were.
Politics: In Kansas, the political atmosphere was highly divided. Towns were either proslavery or abolitionist. When Kansas became a free state in 1861, proslavery towns died out. Survival of a town also depended on it winning the county seat. Towns that were contenders for the county seat and lost typically had most, if not all, of their town die out.
Lack of employment: Towns that catered to a specific industry such as coal mining or military housing were boom towns that quickly died when their markets collapsed. Some towns that mainly relied on agriculture were abandoned in the 1930s during the Dust Bowl period.
Eminent domain / flood control: Since 1951, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has sought to control floods through the building of dams along rivers and the resulting outcome is a town having to be moved or abandoned and demolished.
Environmental degradation: Remnants of lead and zinc mining can cause soil contamination that can render entire communities uninhabitable; e.g. Treece.

List

List of ghost towns in Kansas that are not incorporated cities or unincorporated communities:

Allen County

Cofachique
Octagon City

Anderson County

Hyattville

Atchison County

Mount Pleasant
Pardee

Butler County

Oil Hill
Plum Grove
Wingate

Chase County

Elk
Ellinor
Homestead
Hymer
Thurman

Cherokee County

Treece

Cheyenne County

Calhoun
Jaqua
Lawnridge
Marney
Orlando

Clark County

Lexington
Letitia was located southwest of Minneola

Clay County

Broughton
Browndale

Cloud County

Como
Macyville
Sibley
Yuma

Cowley County

Floral
Wilmot

Decatur County

Bassetville
Decatur
Hawkeye
Hooker
Jackson
Lund
Sheffield
Shibboleth
Stephen
Vallonia

Doniphan County

Geary

Douglas County

Belvoir
Franklin
Lapeer
Louisiana
Media
Prairie City
Twin Mound
Weaver

Elk County

Cave Springs
Fiat
Upola

Ellis County

Chetolah
Easdale
Hog Back
Mendota
Rome
Smoky Hill City
Stockrange
Turkville

Ellsworth County

Terra Cotta

Finney County

Eminence
Ravanna

Franklin County

Appanoose
Forrest Home
Garlington
Greenwood
Minneola
Norwood
Ohio City
Pleasant Hill
Silkville

Geary County

Alida
Pawnee

Gove County

Alanthus
Hackberry
Jerome

Graham County

Fargo
Happy
Houston
Kebar
Millbrook
Olean
Roscoe
Togo
Turnerville
Whitfield
Wild Horse

Greeley County

Astor

Greenwood County

Teterville
Thrall
Utopia

Harper County

Albion

Harvey County

Annelly

Haskell County

Santa Fe

Jewell County

Dentonia

Labette County

Mortimer

Leavenworth County

Delaware City

Lincoln County

Bacon
Bayne
Cedron
Herman
Lone Walnut
Milo
Monroe
Orbitello
Orworth
Paris
Pinon
Pleasant Valley
Pottersburg
Rosette
Topsy
Towerspring
Union Valley
Woodey
Yorktown

Linn County

Barnard
Blooming Grove
Brooklin
Keokuk
Hail Ridge
Harmonia
Jackson
Linnville
Mansfield
Moneka
Oakwood
Paris
Potosi
Twin Springs

Logan County

McAllaster
Sheridan

Marion County

Elk
Gnadenau
Hampson
Oursler
Waldeck
Watchorn

Marshall County

Bigelow
Irving

Mitchell County

Blue Hill
Buel
Coursens Grove
Elmira
Saltville
Victor
Walnut Grove
West Asher

Montgomery County

Le Hunt

Morris County

Comiskey

Neosho

Ladore

Norton County

Bower
Brett
Cactus
Devizes
Fairhaven
Hanback
Hedgewood
Rayville
Rockwell
Smithton
Wakeman

Osborne County

Banks
Bristow
Cheyenne
Delhi
Deliverance
Dial
Emley
Forney
Free Will
Handy
Pleasant Plain
Potterville
Roundmound
Twin Creek
Vincent
Yoxall

Ottawa County

Vine Creek

Phillips County

Crow
Dickeyville
Goode
Jimtown
Luctor
Matteson
Myrtle
Pleasant Green
Powell
Wagnerville
West Cedar

Rawlins County

Achilles
Beardsley
Beaverton
Burntwood
Celia
Chardon
Gladstone
Greshamton
Mirage
Rawlins
Rotate

Reno County

Kent

Republic County

Sherdahl
White Rock

Rice County

Crawford
Galt

Rooks County

Adamson
Alcona
Amboy
Chandler
Cresson
Earnest
Frankton
Gould City
Highhill
Hoskins
Igo
Laton
McHale
Motor
Nyra
Portage
Slate
Sugarloaf
Survey
Rockport

Rush County

Belfield
Brookdale
Fenton
Flavius
Hampton
Hutton
Lippard
Olney
Pioneer
Ryan
Saunders
West Point

Russell County

Bayne
Blue Stem
East Wolf
Fay
Forest Hill
Greenvale
Hawley
Jack
Kennebec
Success
Winterset
Woodville

Seward County

Arkalon

Shawnee County

Richland

Sheridan County

Adell
Alcyone
Chicago
Lucerne
Museum
Mystic
Phelps
Sheridan
Ute
Violenta

Smith County

Cora
Anderson
Clifford
Corvallis
Covington
Crystal Plains
Custer
Germantown
Hardilee
Jacksonburg
Judson
Ohio
Troublesome
Twelve Mile
Tyner
Uhl

Stevens County

Woodsdale

Sumner County

Bushnell
Cleardale
Doster
Ewell
Metcalf
Roland
Sumner City

Thomas County

Copeland
Cumberland
Kuka
Otterbourne
Quickville

Trego County

Banner
Bosna
Cyrus
Wilcox

Wabaunsee County

Vera

Washington County

Strawberry

Wichita County

Farmer City

References

External links

Kansas Dead Town List The Kansas Historical Society has a list of the Kansas "Dead Towns" online. These lists are detailed in books available at the Society in Topeka.
Lost Kansas Communities Project from the Chapman Center For Rural Studies at Kansas State University

How Many Ghost Towns Are In Kansas? This is a list of ghost towns in

Ghost Towns in Kansas A Captivating Guide for History Buffs

Ghost towns of Kansas Fitzgerald, Daniel Wide World Maps & MORE!

Visiting a Kansas Ghost Town Kirsten Oliphant

Ghost Towns of Kansas Volume 1 19762010 by Daniel C. Fitzgerald