Earlton, Kansas Road, courtesy Google Maps.
Earlton, Kansas, is a small town in Canville Township in the western part of Neosho County. It is also an “extinct town” because it no longer has a post office. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60 and a total area of 0.15 square miles, all land.
Earlton was founded in 1870 on 50 acres of land owned by the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad. J.C. Lantz started the town in the railroad’s interest.
He soon erected a storeroom and began selling groceries. The station house, for the accommodation of the railroad employees, was built in 1870. That year, J.S. Cunningham built a residence.
Depot and old store of H.L. Freeman.
A post office opened on July 3, 1871, and the town’s name was first spelled Earleton. J.C. Lantz was the first postmaster.
However, the growth of the town was retarded by litigation for the title of the land, and little was done in the way of building until the matter was settled in 1876. At that time, the railroad depot was built, and Miss Ida Stone taught the first school in the district.
In 1877, H.L. Freeman bought Lantz’s store, enlarged the room, continued the business, and became the postmaster. The same year, J.C. Freeman built a house.
The Brown Brothers began in the grocery business in 1878.
Evangelical Church in Earlton, Kansas.
In the fall of 1880, H.L. Freeman erected a house. The cemetery was started in December 1880.
In 1881, the Brown Brothers sold their grocery business to N.F. Pattee. The same year, A.B. Yoder built a residence.
In 1882, J.C. Robinson erected a blacksmith shop, and H.A. Brown built a residence.
The Evangelical Church was built in 1882. It is a neat frame structure of plain architecture. That year, S.A. Brown & Company started a lumber yard, and seven buildings were erected in the town, among which was the parsonage belonging to the Evangelical Church.
Afterward, there was a lull in the town’s improvement for about two years, after which its growth was renewed.
By the early 1880s, there were three church organizations: the Evangelical, Methodist, and United Brethren. Only the Evangelical had a church building. At that time, the country surrounding the town was fertile prairie, much of which was in the hands of speculators and consequently unimproved. However, the town had an extensive country trade and was an important point in the shipment of grain and livestock.
Old business buildings in Earlton, Kansas, in 1904.
In 1882, about 100,000 bushels of corn were shipped from this point. At that time, the town had two stores and a population of about 100.
In 1906, J.A. Alleman ran a general store, H. Brown was a grain dealer, and A. Gaughan was a school teacher.
In 1910, Earleton was described as one of the thriving little towns of Neosho County. At that time, it was located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, and all lines of business were represented, including banking. There was an express office and a money order post office with two rural routes, and its population was 250.
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in Earlton, Kansas by H. Killam, 1959.
Earleton’s population peaked in 1920 at 381 and gradually dropped in the following decades.
On October 1, 1950, the spelling of the town’s name was changed from Earleton to Earlton.
Earlton’s post office closed on July 3, 1976.
Today, the community is served by the Chanute USD 413 public school district.
Earlton is 12 miles west of Erie, the county seat, about seven miles south of Chanute, and about the same distance north of Thayer.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated October 2024.
Earlton, Kansas Store Building by Kathy Alexander.
Old garage in Earlton, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
Also See:
Extinct Towns of Neosho County
An old house in Earlton, Kansas, by Kathy Alexander.
Sources:
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.
Standard Atlas of Neosho County, Kansas, George A. Ogle & Co. 1906
Wikipedia