Hewins, Kansas, today, courtesy of Google Maps.
Hewins, Kansas, was established in 1886, following the massive flood on the Caney River in Chautauqua County in the fall of 1885. Located on the Big Cheney River in Harrison Township, the town was named after Edwin M. Hewins, who owned a large ranch that extended from Hewins to near Cedar Vale. The post office moved from Hart’s Mill when it was established in Hewins on April 6, 1887.
By 1907, Hewins had grown considerably with three grocery stores, a bank, a hotel, two drug stores, a restaurant, three churches, a good school, a livery barn, two blacksmith shops, two doctors, a dentist, a Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and an Odd Fellow’s Lodge. The residents enjoyed two trains daily. A trip to Elgin or Cedar Vale in the morning, returning by the evening train, was a daily adventure.
Hewins, Kansas Main Street, vintage.
Hotel in Hewins, Kansas, around 1910.
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in Hewins, Kansas.
In 1910, the town was located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. It had a bank, all the main lines of business enterprises, telegraph and express offices, a money order post office with one rural route, and a population of 225.
The bank closed around 1924. The trains stopped in the 1930s. The post office closed on April 8, 1966.
A ghost town today, Hewins is 15 miles southwest of Sedan, the county seat. There are just a few homes left in the area.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated April 2025.
Hewins, Kansas School.
Also See:
Extinct Towns of Chautauqua County
Sources:
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Chautauqua County Historical and Genealogical Society
Wikipedia