Centerville, Kansas Business District, courtesy of Google Maps.
Centerville, Kansas, is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in western Linn County. Its population was 78 as of the 2020 census.
Situated on Sugar Creek, a post office opened on March 15, 1855, and remains open today. Primarily a farming community, Centerville became a shipping and supply town when the Kansas City branch of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway came through. The railroad supported local industries, a grain elevator, and a passenger depot.
Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway depot in Centerville, Kansas.
In 1910, it had a money order post office, express and telegraph offices, and was the shipping and supply town for a considerable agricultural district. At that time, it had a population of 175.
In 1918, a booster station was built for the Amoco Oil Company in Centerville.
For decades, this building served as a vital mechanical artery, pushing resources across the Great Plains. Constructed during the peak of the oil boom, booster stations were built with uncompromising attention to detail. From the heavy steel trusses to the thick masonry walls, the structure was engineered to withstand intense demands, a testament to the craftsmanship of the American worker.
Old Amoco Pump house in Centerville, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
The old Amoco Pumphouse building was converted to an event venue in 2007. It provides a chapel, an atrium, and luxury suites.
About three miles northeast of this small town is the St. Phillippine Duchesne Shrine, which marks the end of the Pottawatomie Trail of Death. Here once stood St. Mary’s Mission, also called the Sugar Creek Mission, which operated from 1839 to 1849. The site includes historical artifacts from the former St. Mary’s Sugar Creek Mission and settlement. It is located on 1525 Road, five miles west of Kansas Highway 7.
The community is served by the Prairie View USD 362 public school district in La Cygne, Kansas.
Centerville is about 12 miles northwest of Mound City, the county seat.
Township Hall in Centerville, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
Centerville, Kansas, post office by Kathy Alexander.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated February 2026.
Also See:
Centerville, Kansas Church by Kathy Alexander.
Sources:
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing
Pumphouse Venue
Wikipedia