Preston, Kansas Main Street by Kathy Alexander.
Preston, Kansas, is a small town in Haynesville Township of Pratt County. As of the 2020 census, the town’s population was 115, and it had a total area of 0.47 square miles, all of which is land. It is also an extinct town as its post office closed years ago.
Chicago, Kansas, and Nebraska Railway.
The town got its start in 1887 when the Chicago, Kansas, & Nebraska Railway built a main line from Herington through Preston to Pratt. That year, the post office was moved from Silverton and opened in Preston on August 11.
In 1888, the railroad line was extended to Liberal, Kansas. Later, it was extended to Tucumcari, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas.
In 1891, the Chicago, Kansas, & Nebraska Railway was foreclosed upon and taken over by the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad.
The State Bank of Preston was chartered on January 14, 1892, with a capital of $15,000. Its officers were M.H. Hays, President; H.J. Moeller, Vice President; and R.B. Haines, Cashier.
Preston, Kansas City Hall by Kathy Alexander.
M.H. Hays established the Hays’ General Store in Preston. He had a fine storeroom that was always well-stocked.
In 1910, Preston was an incorporated city of the third class. At that time, it was situated at the junction of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad and the Missouri Pacific Railroad. It had a bank, a weekly newspaper called the Pilot, a lumber yard, grain elevators, telegraph and express offices, a money order post office with three rural routes, and a population of 278.
Preston’s population peaked at 401 in 1920.
Preston High School was closed as part of the school unification process. The Preston High School mascot was the Wildcats.
Business Buildings in Preston, Kansas, by Kathy Alexander.
The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway shut down in 1980 and reorganized as the Oklahoma, Kansas & Texas Railroad, which merged with the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1988.
Preston’s post office closed on April 28, 1990.
The Missouri Pacific Railroad merged with the Union Pacific Railroad in 1997.
Today, the community is served by the Pratt USD 382 public school district.
Preston is 12 miles northeast of Pratt, the county seat.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated June 2025.
Grain Elevator in Preston, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
Also See:
Sources:
Abandoned Kansas
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
City of Preston
Pratt Commercial Club; Chronicles of Pratt and Pratt County, Kansas; Pratt County Historical Society, 1911.
Wikipedia