Big Timbers Creek Crossing on the Fort Hays-Fort Dodge Trail, photo courtesy Santa Fe Trail Research.
Hampton, Kansas, is an extinct town in Rush County.
Located on Big Timbers Creek along the Fort Hays-Fort Dodge Trail in the northwestern part of the county. This stop once provided travelers with good water and grass. A small community called Hampton was established in 1876 and named for Joe Hampton, the area’s first settler.
Monty Leach operated a small store at the crossing and became the town’s first postmaster on February 2, 1877. The small community began to grow, and Richard Mulroy built a two-story house and later a hotel. More businesses were soon established, including the Noble Brothers Store and a blacksmith shop operated by Billy Metz.
As more and more settlers came to the area, a stage company was founded by John Buffer, who operated for only two months in 1877. However, after Buffer’s failure, Bob Brooks and Captain G. W. Edwards opened another stage line headquartered in Hampton. The business carried mail deliveries and passengers between Forts Hays and Dodge City on a three-day journey. Operating two three-seated coaches, accommodating six passengers, each paid a six-dollar fare for a one-way ride. Mail was delivered by the stage semi-weekly to Monty Leach, the postmaster. In 1878, the community had a population of 35.
Following the Dull Knife Raid in the fall of 1878, in which Cheyenne Indians left their reservation in Oklahoma and raided western Kansas, the stage service was disrupted for a week. However, it soon resumed under the escort of soldiers for two weeks. It is unknown how long the stage operated. Bob Brooks soon opened a general store. At some point, the community had a school. But, for Hampton, life would be short. When nearby McCracken was organized with the arrival of the railroad in 1886, Hampton began to die. Bob Brooks continued to run his store for 3-4 years following McCracken’s founding, but it finally closed.
Hampton’s post office was discontinued on December 15, 1887, but opened again just a month later on January 18, 1888. It closed for the final time on December 15, 1910.
Though the community is long gone today, area residents have worked to restore the Hampton Cemetery, located about five miles east of McCracken. The townsite of Hampton was located immediately south of the cemetery. Across the road from the townsite, the foundation of the old schoolhouse can still be seen. Several ruts of the old trail can also be spied to the north of the foundation.
Hampton was 12 miles from La Crosse, the county seat, and 20 from Hays, the nearest railroad station.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated November 2024.
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