Belpre, Kansas Main Street Buildings by Kathy Alexander.
Belpre, Kansas, is a small town in Belpre Township of Edwards County. As of the 2020 census, the city’s population was 97, and its total area was 0.41 square miles.
Elevator District in Belpre, Kansas.
Belpre was founded in 1879, and a post office was established on July 7, 1879. Belpre comes from the French words “belle prairie,” meaning “beautiful meadow.”
On June 2, 1886, the townsite was platted by the Arkansas Valley Town and Land Company. It was located on a homestead that was filed by Henry McKibben in 1879. Belpre was named after the McKibbens’ former home in Ohio.
Belpre was incorporated in 1906.
In 1910, Belpre was an incorporated city of the third class. That year, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad built a wooden depot to handle growing local freight and passenger traffic. The town also boasted a bank, a weekly newspaper called the Bulletin, a strong retail trade, a money order post office, telegraph and express offices, telephone connections with adjacent towns and cities, considerable shipping, and a population of 485.
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Depot in Belpre, Kansas.
In 1916, Belpre also briefly connected with the Anthony & Northern Railway (later renamed the Wichita Northwestern Railway), which intersected the area before being abandoned in 1941.
Belpre’s population peaked at 488 in 1920.
As rail service declined, the Barton County Historical Society acquired Belpre’s 1910 Santa Fe depot, preserved it, and moved it to Great Bend for use as a museum.
Macksville USD 351 serves the community in Stafford County.
Belpre is 17 miles East of Kinsley, the county seat, along Highway 50.
 Grain elevators in Belpre, Kansas, by Kathy Alexander. |
 Library in Belpre, Kansas, by Kathy Alexander. |
St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Belpre, Kansas, by Kathy Alexander.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated September 2026.
Also See:
Sources:
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol. I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Fort Hays State University
Wikipedia