Fairhaven, Kansas.
Fairhaven, Kansas, also spelled Fair Haven, was a hamlet in Grant Township of Norton County. It is a lost town today.
A post office was established on July 30, 1879, and Judson C. Wilson was appointed postmaster. In 1885, it had several farmers, a wagonmaker, a justice of the peace, and a population of 20. It was on the stagecoach line to Logan, from which its mail was delivered tri-weekly to A. Baker, the postmaster. The town shipped livestock from Logan, its nearest shipping point.
At one point, Fairhaven had a good general merchandise store owned and operated by James Alderson Maddy and family that also served as a local gathering place. Mr. Maddy also farmed, raised Chester White hogs, was the postmaster, and the telephone switchboard was in the store. Farmers brought their cream and eggs to the store in the early days and purchased groceries and other merchandise, such as coffee grinders, kerosene lamps, lanterns, hardware, fabric and sewing accessories, and groceries.
Maddy Store in Fairhaven, Kansas, 1912.
When the post office closed in 1904, the residents were delivered their mail from Densmore. However, the general store remained open, and in later years, a gasoline pump was installed so gasoline could be sold. With the death of James Maddy in 1935, the store closed. Later, the Fairhaven Church, located ¾ mile north of the store, was disbanded, sold, and moved to Norton. Today, the area is farmland. It was located about eight miles southeast of Norton, the county seat, and about the same distance north of Densmore.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, December 2024.
Also See:
Sources:
1884-1885 Gazetteer and Business Directory, R.L. Polk & Co., Chicago, IL.
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Kansas Post Office History
Norton County Genealogical Society