Dennis, Kansas Main Street by Kathy Alexander.
Dennis, Kansas, is a small unincorporated town and census-designated place in Osage Township of Labette County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 152.
St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company depot in Dennis, Kansas.
The town got its start in 1880 with the construction of the Memphis, Kansas, and Colorado Railroad through the area. The first building was a railroad depot erected there. In the spring of 1881, William Current opened the first grocery store, and the post office was established there on May 31, 1881, with Curry as the first postmaster.
John Webb and John Milligan put in a stock of general merchandise in the spring of1882.
A second stock of general merchandise was put in by W.H. Thorne in the fall of 1883. He also built a corn elevator, shipped grain, and built the first substantial residence in town. Afterward, John Mason put in a harness shop, L. Pedan a lumber yard, William Cline a drug store, J.L. Wilson a hardware store, and Nelson Dunn a livery stable. The town was platted in December of that year.
The first hotel was put up by Mr. Acre in 1885. Two newspapers were started in Dennis, but neither could survive and were moved away. One of the town’s substantial business plants is its flour mill.
Business building in Dennis, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
In 1910, Dennis was on the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, at which time, it had an express office and a money order post office, one rural route, and a population of 175.
Today, Dennis still has several buildings and homes, a couple of small businesses, a community center, a post office, a fire department, and an active Methodist Church.
The community is served by the Labette County USD 506 public school district in Altamont, Kansas
Dennis is 25 miles north of Oswego, the county seat, and eight miles from Parsons.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated January 2026.
Methodist Church in Dennis, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
Dennis, Kansas, post office y Kathy Alexander.
Also See:
Sources:
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Case, Nelson; History of Labette County, Kansas, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1901.
Kansas and Its Surnames
Wikipedia