Harvesting in Woodson County, Kansas, about 1900.
| Town | Post Office Dates | Additional Information |
| Batesville | None | Batesville began in 1883 when the St. Louis, Fort Scott & Wichita Railway was built from Yates Center to Toronto. A stockyard, several large homes, and hay barns were built. The town is believed to be named after the town of Batesville, Arkansas. During the prairie hay season, the population of Batesville multiplied by the hundreds as a tent city sprung up to accommodate the farmhands who came in to help process the bluestem prairie hay. Hundreds of cars of cattle and hay were shipped from Batesville on the railroad for many years. Batesville also had a gas station, general store, and blacksmith. It was eight miles west of Yates Center, the county seat on U.S. Hwy 54. |
| Bath | 1861-1869 | The post office moved to Chellis when it closed. |
| Belmont | 1857-1878 | One of the first settlements in Woodson County, a trading post was established in 1856. The town was founded by Joel Moody in 1857 in a wooded area on Sandy Creek. It was built south of the old wagon trail called the Humboldt-Belmont-Eureka Road. The post office was established on September 23, 1857. Legislative action named Belmont the first county seat of Woodson County in 1858 and it was named for Belmont County, Ohio. At one time, it had a general store, a hotel, a stagecoach barn, a blacksmith shop, a tavern, an Indian Agency, over 20 cabins, and a population of 600. The post office closed on January 23, 1878. Nothing is left of the town today except an old cemetery at the corner of Kanza Road and 80th Road. It was located four miles south and two miles west of Yates Center. |
| Bramlette | 1871-1874 | |
| Burt | 1884-1907 | Burt, Kansas, was an inland village on Turkey Creek in Liberty Township in north Woodson County. Today, it is a ghost town with just a few remaining buildings. |
| Byron | 1870-1896 | Byron was a small town in the northern part of Woodson County. In 1885, it had a general store, a Baptist Church, a district school, a blacksmith, a justice of the peace, and a syrup manufacturer. Livestock was its principal export, shipped from Neosho Falls, ten miles distant. It was on the stagecoach line from Yates Center, from which the mail was delivered thrice weekly to Samuel R. Eakins, the postmaster. It was nine miles north of Yates Center, the county seat and nearest bank location. |
| Cherry Creek | 1870-1878 | |
| Claude | 1884-1891 | |
| Coloma | 1865-1902 | A country post office in Liberty Township, it had a general store and wagonmaker in 1885. Its mail was delivered by stagecoach tri-weekly to O.P. Augustine, the postmaster. It exported livestock from Yates Center, its nearest shipping point and bank location, four miles distant. The population in 1910 was 57. |
| Conger | 1900-1904 | |
| Cookville | 1879-1904 | A small town on Owl Creek in the southeastern part of the county. In 1885, its mail was delivered tri-weekly to Mrs. J.W. Cook, the postmaster. It was ten miles east of Yates Center, the county seat, and seven west of Humboldt. |
| Defiance | 1874-1886 | A small place in Woodson County, it was once the county seat. The mail was delivered daily by stagecoach from Humboldt to I M. Bowser, the postmaster and general store operator. Most of its population moved to Yates Center after being selected as the permanent county seat in 1876. It was six miles east of Yates Center, the county seat, the nearest shipping point, and banking location. |
| Durand | None |
 Durand, Kansas Depot. The unincorporated town of Durand, Kansas, is extinct today. Located two miles east of Yates Center on U.S. Highway 54 and .8 miles north, Durand had settlers living in the area as early as the 1860s. Around the turn of the 20th century, the railroad coming from Vernon and Leroy had to cross several bends to get to Yates Center and Rose. To escape the bends and hills, the Colorado, Kansas, & Pacific Railway, later the Missouri Pacific Railroad, rerouted the tracks through Durand. After the grade was made, the tracks were laid, and a town began to take shape. A depot, two hotels, several houses, a railroad siding, and a store were built. During its heyday, Durand became busy, with as many as 12 trains coming and going each day. About 75 workmen were in and out daily. The north-south rail line through Durand now carries Union Pacific trains. The hotels, the depot, and other concessions are now gone; the railyard is a maintenance station. Trains still pass through at all times of the day. |
| Everett | 1873-1887 | The post office moved from Miller’s Grove to Everett on June 2, 1873. Everett was located on Cherry Creek, eight miles northeast of Yates Center, the county seat and nearest banking point. In 1885, the Congregational and Methodist sects held meetings, and there was a district school. Grain and livestock are shipped from Piqua, the nearest railroad point. It was on the stagecoach line to Neosho Falls and Yates Center, from which the mail was delivered daily to J.M. Eaton, the postmaster. When the post office closed on January 31, 1887, it moved to Vernon. |
| Finney | 1880-1902 | A country post office in Woodson County, it was ten miles northwest of Yates Center, the county seat and nearest bank location. In 1885, it had a Methodist Episcopal Church, and its mail was delivered tri-weekly to F.L. Arnold, the postmaster. |
| Fort Belmont | None | Located in Woodson County, two miles west of present-day Buffalo, Kansas, Fort Belmont was built in 1860 to protect area settlers from both Indians and Missouri Bushwhackers during the strife of the Kansas-Missouri Border War. Abandoned in October 1864, the fort continued to stand until about 1871, it quickly deteriorated, and there are no remains today. |
| Griffin | 1890-1901 | An inland hamlet on Owl Creek, on the eastern line of Woodson County, it was about 12 miles east of Yates Center, the county seat. After its post office closed, it received mail from Humboldt, in Allen County, the nearest railroad station and shipping point. |
| Hazelettville | 1869-1872 | |
| Kalida-Chellis | 1869-1876 | The post office moved from Bath to Chellis on July 15, 1869. On March 20, 1871, the town’s name was changed from Chelis to Kalida. On June 12, 1876, the post office was moved to Yates Center. |
| Keck/Juse | 1884-1907 | An inland hamlet on Turkey Creek in the western part of the county. When the post office was first established on July 31, 1884, it was called Juse. The town and post office name was changed to Keck on February 10, 1896. The post office closed on October 15, 1907. It was ten miles northwest of Yates Center, the county seat, the nearest railroad station and shipping point. |
| Liberty | 1867-1869 | |
| Lomando | 1895-1903 | In 1910, it was a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad about six miles northeast of Yates Center. |
| Miller’s Grove | 1869-1873 | The post office moved to Everett when it closed. |
| Mount Airy | 1860-1864 | |
| Myra | 1884-1895 | |
| Ridge-Center Ridge | 1871-1904 | Initially, this inland hamlet in the county’s southeast corner was called Center Ridge when its post office opened on January 9, 1871. In 1885, it had Congregational, Christian, Presbyterian, and Baptist Churches, a district school, a general store, a constable, and a population of 60. It exported livestock and grain from Humboldt, the nearest railroad and bank location. Mail was delivered daily by stagecoach from Humboldt to G.W. Grebe, the postmaster. The town’s name changed to Ridge on December 10, 1894. It was 17 miles southeast of Yates Center, the county seat. |
| Rose | 1870-1960 | A country post office in Eminence Township in the southern part of the county, nine miles from Yates Center, the county seat, its nearest bank location, and shipping point in 1885. By 1910, it was a station on the Missouri Pacific Railroad with telegraph and express offices, a money order post office with two rural routes, and a population of 50. |
| Vernon | 1887-1953 |
 Vernon, Kansas.  Old school in Vernon, Kansas. The post office moved from Everett when Vernon was established. Vernon is a ghost town in northeastern Woodson County. In 1910, it was a station on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, ten miles northeast of Yates Center, the county seat. The town was platted in December 1886 when the Verdigris Valley, Independence, and Western Railroad was built from LeRoy to Yates Center. Several houses and buildings remain in the area today. |
| Wortley | 1891-1894 |
© Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, December 2024.
Also See:
Sources:
1884-1885 State Gazetteer and Business Directory, R. L. Polk & Co., Chicago, IL.
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Cutler, William G; History of Kansas; A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Kansas Post Office History
Revitalize Yates Center