Beeler, Kansas, by Kathy Alexander.
Beeler, Kansas, is an unincorporated community in Eden Township of Ness County. It is also officially an extinct town as its post office was discontinued in 2009.
The first post office was established on July 31, 1886, as Beelerville. It was named after Elmer Beeler, the town’s founder and postmaster.
Located on the banks of the Walnut River, it has a commanding view overlooking the Walnut Valley.
George Washington Carver by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1906.
George Washington Carver, an African American scientist, moved to Ness County in 1886. That October, having decided on the land that he wished to homestead, he built a sod house and occupied it while working his claim.
Beelerville was platted in March 1887 by the Arkansas Valley Town Company, which was jointly owned by Elmer E. Beeler, J.F. Beeler, and George S. Redd. The area had fine building stone, an abundance of good spring water, and suitable building sand was also available.
However, the Beeler family, in their efforts to second-guess the railroad, had acted too quickly. The thriving town that had sprung up almost overnight had to be moved. When the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad surveyors came through, the company purchased 80 acres from Daniel Rineley. It platted the town on April 22, 1887, approximately one-quarter mile to the southwest. Immediately following, the entire town moved to its present location.
That year, the population was primarily comprised of farmers and stock raisers.
Elmer E. Beeler, one of the town’s founders and a bright, generous, and public-spirited young businessman, handled the entire coal trade of the town and was an active dealer in real estate and farm loans. B. Beeler, the builder and owner of the elegant Beeler House, the builder and manager of the old pioneer sod Beeler House, and an old settler and stockman, and J.F. Beeler, the agent of the Town Company, and a prosperous and enterprising general merchant. These three men came from Doniphan County, Kansas.
Sod house hotel in Beeler, Kansas.
H.D. Starrett, a successful hardware merchant, came from Iowa. D. Rinely, a leading and successful grocery merchant, and O.P. Rinely, who did a good business in flour, feed, and grain, and Ebert Goreham, one of the leading general merchants and the owner of a good farm, and J.I. Nicholson, an enterprising young man who did a good business in the livery, feed, and flour trade, also hailed from Iowa.
Bird Gee ran the village market and was the fortunate owner of a neighboring farm. Jas H. Johnson, the owner of Brookbank Stock Farm, was a substantial and enterprising stockman and was a partner of Bird Gee in the market business.
John Brink came from Topeka, Kansas, and established a dental office. Doctor Hathaway, from the East, opened his medical practice. August Brocher, from Missouri, built and stocked a good drug house.
Samuel Lofland, the village blacksmith and mechanic, came from Illinois.
The post office and town’s name were changed to Beeler on April 19, 1888, with Elmer Beeler continuing as postmaster.
Upon the arrival of the railroad, Beeler soon had a railway passenger and freight depot, the large and excellent stone Beeler House, with its ample hotel accommodations and stores, a church, schoolhouse, as well as a dozen new business establishments, barns, mechanic shops, homes, and 150 residents.
Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad in Beeler, Kansas.
In 1910, Beeler was still a station and shipping point on the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad. At that time, it had a money order post office, an express office, telephone connections, Protestant churches, a school, and was a trading and shipping point for the western part of the county. The population in 1910 was 75.
The post office was discontinued on May 30, 2009.
A historical marker featuring George Washington Carver is located on the south side of the highway at Beeler. Carver, an African American, was one of America’s most outstanding scientists. He revolutionized agriculture in the South with his discoveries. From sweet potatoes and peanuts alone, he created paints, soap, wallboard, a milk substitute, medicines, cosmetics, and approximately 500 other products. A mile and a half south of the historical marker is the quarter section of land originally homesteaded by Carver.
Midway between Ness City and Dighton, Beeler lies along K-96, 16 miles west of Ness City, the county seat.
George Washington Carver homestead site, south of Beeler, Kansas, courtesy of Wikipedia.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, September 2025.
Also See:
Sources:
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Handbook of Ness County, Kansas; C.S. Burch Publishing Company, Chicago, 1887.
Historic Marker Database
Kansas Oakland Blogspot
Kansas Post Office History
Wikipedia