Gretna, Kansas Town View by Kathy Alexander.
Gretna, Kansas, was an unincorporated village in Arcade Township of Phillips County. It is an extinct town today, as its post office closed decades ago.
The town was initially known as Dana when it was laid out in September 1887. A post office was established on January 28, 1888. Families from Missouri settled the town and community. Initially, it never grew too substantial, never having more than a half-dozen businesses.
However, that changed when the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad arrived. Afterward, the railroad changed the town’s name to Gretna on April 29, 1907.
Agriculture buildings in Gretna, Kansas, by Kathy Alexander.
In 1910, it was a thriving little place with a grain elevator, general stores, a bank, telegraph and express offices, a money order post office with one rural route, and a population of 75.
Until 1944, the town had a filling station and a grocery store, but that year a fire destroyed several houses and businesses that were never rebuilt.
Gretna’s post office closed on March 31, 1945.
The community still has a grain elevator, a large silo, a few area residents, and an old one-room school. It is served today by the Kyle Railroad, a short line that connects with larger carriers such as Union Pacific Railroad and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and handles significant grain traffic in the region.
Gretna is six miles east of Phillipsburg, the county seat.
An old one-room school and other buildings in Gretna, Kansas, by Kathy Alexander.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, January 2026.
Also See:
Extinct Towns of Phillips County
Phillips County, Kansas
Sources:
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Fort Hays State University
Nebraska TV
Phillips County, Kansas