Halfmound, Kansas 1911.
Halfmound, Kansas (now spelled Half Mound) was located in the northern part of Delaware Township on the Delaware River in Jefferson County. It is an extinct town today.
Halfmound, Kansas, country store at right.
The town was named after a large mound in the area that was elevated about 200 feet above the prairie.
Nearby was a flouring mill known as the Half Mound Mill. It was built in 1871 by Hoesley & Co., who sold it to Hillyer & Co. about two years later. In 1880, it was bought by J. M. Plazzek, who, in August 1882, sold it to Southward & McDowell. The mill was a frame structure worth about $8,000, had two runs of buhrs, and had improved machinery, which manufactured a good quality of flour.
In the early 1880s, the town was little more than a side track and stopping place for trains on the Union Pacific Railroad line.
A post office opened on June 17, 1898, and closed on April 15, 1914.
The community was located 25 miles northwest of Oskaloosa and five miles from Valley Falls.
Halfmound, Kansas Store Front about 1905.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, April 2024.
Also See:
Jefferson County Extinct Towns
Delaware Township, Jefferson County, Kansas.
Jefferson 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 Memory