Cedar Road in North Branch, Kansas, courtesy of Google Maps.
North Branch, Kansas, was a Quaker settlement in Walnut Township in the northwestern part of Jewell County. It is an extinct town today as its post office closed long ago.
D.H. Dillon, a merchant from Iowa, was one of the first settlers. He took a homestead ten miles northwest of Burr Oak in 1873. In the spring of 1878, Dillon established himself in business, carrying a general stock of goods. He built a building in 1882, measuring 22×40 feet, filled with goods. The post office was established on March 19, 1878, and D.H. Dillon was appointed postmaster in May 1878. He and Malen Lamb laid out the town.
An old house in North Branch, Kansas, courtesy of Google Maps.
In 1880, the community had a Friends Church, a district school, a general store, a nurseryman, two blacksmiths, and a justice of the peace. Stagecoaches passed through here daily between Red Cloud, Nebraska, and Beloit, Kansas.
In 1882, D.H. Dillon built the one-story wood-frame North Branch Store on Cedar Road. In 1896, another building of nearly equal size was joined with the first. The combined buildings measured 50 by 40 feet. The store carried various merchandise, including groceries, dry goods, and hardware, but no tobacco or alcohol. It also housed a creamery where farmers brought their cream and eggs. It was a significant focal point in the community.
Across the street was a warehouse where buggies were sold.
In 1889, the Quaker Academy was established two blocks from the North Branch Store.
In 1910, North Branch had a post office with one rural route, was a trading center for the neighborhood, and had a population of 125. Red Cloud, Nebraska, was the nearest shipping point.
In 1942, the Quaker Academy was closed, and the large building was torn down. In 1950, a new church was built on the site.
Site of the North Branch Academy, courtesy of Google Maps.
By then, gasoline pumps stood in front of the North Branch Store.
The town’s post office closed on December 31, 1959.
As the years passed, the North Branch Store had a snack bar selling hamburgers, homemade pie, and coffee. Later, the building was utilized as an antique store. In August 2002, it was added to the Kansas Register of Historic Places. The building was still standing in 2014, but it is gone today.
North Branch Store in North Branch, Kansas, in 2014, courtesy Google Maps.
This old town still boasts several homes, the active Friends Church, a cemetery, and a few other buildings.
The community is served by Rock Hills USD 107 public school district in Mankato.
North Branch is two miles south of the Nebraska/Kansas state line at Cedar Road and 78 Road intersection. It is 20 miles northwest of Mankato, the county seat.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, November 2024.
The Friends Church in North Branch, Kansas, is still active today. Photo courtesy Google Maps.
Also See:
Extinct Towns of Jewell County
Sources:
Blackmar, William; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Standard Publishing Co., Chicago, IL,1912.
Cutler, William; History of the State of Kansas, A.T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Kansas Register of Historic Places
Wikipedia