Hauling logs in Pottawatomie County.
St, Paul Lutheran Church, Duluth, Kansas, courtesy Google Maps.
| Town | Post Office Dates | Additional Information |
| Adams Peak | 1870-1884 | In the southern part of Shannon Township. |
| Arispie | 1871-1903 | Settled in 1870, Arispie was located on Coal Creek in Greene Township, in the central part of Pottawatomie County. In 1878, it had Christian, Congregational, and Methodist Churches, a district school, a physician, two general stores, a blacksmith, a cheese factory, and a population of about 60. In 1884, it had a population of 100. At that time, its mail was delivered tri-weekly. It was on the Union Pacific Railroad nine miles south of Onago, its nearest shipping point and bank location. It was ten miles west of Westmoreland, the county seat. |
| Bellegarde | 1872-1879 | |
| Blaine | 1874-1976 | Located on the Oregon Trail in the northern part of Pottawatomie County, it still has a beautiful church and a few residents. |
| Broderick | 1891-1903 | |
| Duluth | 1912-1986 | Duluth, Kansas, is a tiny town in Pottawatomie County. It is also an extinct town without a post office. It still has several homes and an active church. |
| Eldon | 1858-1860 | The post office moved to Saint George. |
| Float | 1874-1876 | |
| Flush | 1899-1927 | Flush, Kansas, is an unincorporated extinct town in Pottawatomie County. Volga Germans from Bavaria first inhabited this community and traveled so far to escape the horrific famine, depression, and heavy taxation plaguing their homeland. |
| Fostoria | 1884-187? | Fostoria, Kansas, is a ghost town in Pottawatomie County. It probably started as a station on the Leavenworth, Kansas, and Western Railway, a branch of the Union Pacific Railroad. |
| Garrison | 1880-1959 | Garrison, Kansas, was a village in Green Township in the Blue River Valley of Pottawatomie County. It is a lost town today because it was destroyed in 1959 to create Tuttle Creek Dam and Reservoir. |
| Grange | 1875-1880 | |
| Hanson | 1882-1885 | Located in Pottawatomie Township. |
| Harrison | None | Located in Belvue Township, it was located on the Kansas Central Railway on the banks of the Big Blue River. |
| Holycross | 1884-1910 | It was located in Emmett Township, about two miles south of Emmett. In 1910, its population was 43. |
| Johnson | 1872-1873 | The post office was only open for about six months. |
| Juniata- Dyers’ Town | 1855-1856 | The Juniata crossing of the Big Blue River was on the Fort Leavenworth-Fort Riley Military Road. |
| Laclede-Eagle | 1871-1906 | When a post office was established on January 31, 1871, this place was first called Eagle. The name changed to Laclede on December 4, 1874. Laclede was the business center on the Red Vermillion River in Center Township. In 1878, it had a flour mill, a general store, a Baptist Church, a school, and a population of 50. The stagecoach line to Wamego and Corning delivered mail tri-weekly to L.C. Prunty, the postmaster. Its principal exports, grain, and livestock, were shipped from Wamego on the Kansas Pacific Railroad., the nearest shipping point, 12 miles distant. In the early 1880s, it had a drug store, a blacksmith shop, two general stores, a restaurant, a grocery store, and a grist mill. The post office closed on July 31, 1906. It was nine miles from Louisville and 49 from Topeka. |
| Maple Grove | 1874-1880 | |
| Mariadahl | 1876-1903 | John A. Johnson laid out the town on the Blue River, in the northwest corner of Pottawatomie County, on April 12, 1871. The Swedish Lutheran Church was built in 1874 for $4,000. A post office was established on October 27, 1876. In 1878, a Swedish Methodist Church was built of stone for $2,500. At that time, the town was incorporated, had a general store, a blacksmith, a ferryman, a steam sawmill, two churches, Lutheran and Methodist, a district school, and a population of about 80. It was on the stagecoach line between Manhattan and Irving, from which mail was delivered tri-weekly to Oscar Fogerberg, the postmaster. The community shipped livestock, grain, butter, and eggs from the Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad in Irving in Marshall County. In the early 1880s, it was described as a thriving hamlet with a stone schoolhouse, a blacksmith shop, and a grange store. Its post office closed on March 31, 1903. It was 18 miles from Louisville and 60 miles by wagon road from Topeka. |
| Mark | 1884 | The post office was only open for about six months before it was moved to Fostoria. |
| Moodyville | 1879-1927 | Moodyville was laid out in April 1882. Nearby was Moodyville Springs, one of the best Mineral springs in the state. |
| Myers Valley | 1870-1903 | In Pottawatomie Township, Myers Valley had a post office was kept at a country store in 1878. St. George, on the Kansas Pacific Railway, nine miles south, was its shipping point, from which cattle, farm, and dairy products were shipped. It had a stagecoach to Louisville and Irvington tri-weekly, delivering mail to the postmaster J.W. Smith. It had two general stores kept by Jesse Harvey and J. W. Smith in the early 1880s. Its population was 22 in 1910. It was located six miles south of Westmoreland, 19 miles northwest of Louisville, and 50 miles northwest of Topeka. |
| Nancy | 1870-1874 | |
| Oak Grove | 1874-1882 | It was located in Belvue Township. |
| Otter Lake | 1870-1886 | It was located in the center of Shannon Township. |
| Pleasant Run | 1870-1886 | In the early 1880s, the town had a general store run by George W. Duncan. |
| Saint Clere | 1874-1953 | Saint Clere is an extinct town on Cross Creek in St. Clere Township of Pottawatomie County, Kansas. A post office was opened on August 12, 1874, In 1885, it had a Baptist Church, a school, a general store, two blacksmiths, a saloon, a grocery, a physician, a justice of the peace, a constable, and a population of 30. The stagecoach line to Havensville and St. Marys delivered mail tri-weekly to J.S. Blaylock, the postmaster. Havensville was its nearest banking point. In 1910, it had a money order post office, local retail trade, and a population of 102. Its post office closed on October 31, 1953. It was almost on the county’s east line, 22 miles east of Westmoreland, the county seat, and 13 miles north of St. Marys. |
| Savannah | 1867-1878 | Savannah was established on the Red Vermillion River in the northeastern part of Pottawatomie County. In 1878, it was a station on the Kansas Central Railroad and shipped livestock, grain, and general country produce. It was also on the stagecoach line to Wamego, from which mail was delivered daily to L. Beach, the postmaster. The post office was only open for about six months. It was 25 miles from Louisville, the county seat, and 50 miles from Topeka. |
| Soldier Creek | None | This was a small place north of the Kansas River and about 70 miles west of the Missouri River. In 1867, it had three general stores, a blacksmith, a shoemaker, and a population of 100. |
| Springside | 1870-1899 1900-1902 |
Springside was established on Spring Creek in Shannon Township in the northwestern part of Pottawatomie County. In 1878, it had a combined grist and sawmill, a Presbyterian Church, a district school, and a population of 300. It was on the stagecoach line to Louisville, Irving, and Manhattan, from which tri-weekly mail was delivered to O. E. Gould, the postmaster. The community chiefly raised grain and livestock, shipped from Irving on the Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad about seven miles distant. It was 12 miles northwest of Westmoreland, 33 miles from Louisville, and 60 from Topeka. |
| Timber City | 1862-1863 | |
| Unadilla | 1858-1859 1860-1862 |
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| Vienna | 1862-1883 | Vienna was in Sherman Township, on the north side of the Kansas River. In 1868, it had a general store, two physicians, a saddle and harness shop, a blacksmith, a gunsmith, and a flour mill. Its postmaster was Almon Benton, and the population was 160. It was 18 miles north of Belvue, the nearest railroad station in 1878 |
| Vieux Crossing | None | Vieux Crossing, also called the Red Vermillion Crossing, was a crossing on the Oregon and California Trails that crossed the Red Vermillion River about three miles east of Louisville, Kansas, in Pottawatomie County. |
| Wheaton-Leghorn | 1870-1992 | In Greene Township, Wheaton was first called Leghorn, but it changed its name to Wheaton in October 1883. This settlement was formed in 1867 on Rock Creek. Today, this tiny town has many homes and several old business buildings. |
Pottawatomie County, Kansas by L.H. Everts &Co., 1887
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated November 2024.
Also See:
Pottawatomie County Photo Gallery
Sources:
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Cutler, William G; History of Kansas; A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Kansas Post Office History
Polk’s 1878 Official State Gazetteer and Business Directory of Kansas, R.L. Polk & Co., Detroit, MI.
Polk’s 1884-1885 Official State Gazetteer and Business Directory of Kansas; R.L. Polk & Co., Detroit, MI.