Elk County, Kansas Extinct Towns

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Sign in Fiat, Kansas.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Sign in Fiat, Kansas.

Busby

Cave Springs

Oak Valley

Town Post Office Dates Additional Information
Amy 1884-1885 The post office moved to Busby after it closed.
Blanche 1897-1901
Bloomfield 1872-1879
Border 1875-1877
Busby 1885-1906 The post office moved from Amy. In 1910, Busby had a population of 47. The nearest railroad station is Buxton on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in Wilson County. It was 12 miles east of Howard.
Canola 1872-1879 The post office moved to Grenola.
Cave Springs-Montrose 1879-1903 The name changed from Montrose to Cave Springs in May 1882. in 1910, it was described as an inland hamlet of Elk County, nine miles northeast of Howard.
Chaplin 1890-1903 An inland hamlet, its population in 1910 was 36. It was located about eight miles southwest of Howard, from which it received its mail after its post office closed. The nearest railroad station was in Grenola, about about miles south on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.
Cresco 1876-1880
Elk River 1868-1869
Fiat 1882-1898
Glenwild 1902-1904
Greenfield 1870-1879
Indian Creek 1873-1882
Keyser 1890-1892 Although the post office was authorized, it was never in operation.
La Paz 1872-1874
Lima 1874-1887
Oak Ridge 1873-1882
Oak Valley 1875-1954 There are still a few homes and buildings in the area.
Painterhood 1870-1871
1874-1879
Paw Paw 1872-1890
Pearl 1877-1881
Rancho 1883-1887
Union Centre 1871-1887
Upola 1887-1909 A station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, Upola was located in Oak Valley Township, 15 miles east of Howard and about four miles from Longton, from which it received mail daily by rural route. The population of 1910 was 24.
Viola 1871-1872
Western Park 1871-1905 An inland hamlet it was located in Union Center Township about 11 miles northwest of Howard,  the nearest railroad station and the usual shipping and banking point, from which it received its mail after the post office closed. In 1910, it had a population of 34.

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, December 2023.

Also See:

Elk County, Kansas

Elk County  Photo Gallery

Every Place in Kansas

Kansas Ghost Towns

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