Kingman County, Kansas Extinct Towns

Old Auditorium in Adams, Kansas, by Dave Alexander.

A village located in Canton Township, about 16 miles southeast of Kingman. In 1910, it was a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, had a money order post office, and was a shipping and trading point for that section of the county, with a population of 20.

Old Bank in Penlosa, Kansas.

Methodist Church in Penalosa, Kansas.

Originally known as Lotta, this place gained a post office on June 25, 1884. It was platted in 1886 and renamed Penalosa on May 13, 1887, in honor of a Spanish explorer. The town grew slowly, and by 1910, it was a station on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, had telegraph and express offices, two-grain elevators, a barber shop, a grocery store, a hardware store, two department stores, a money order post office with two rural routes, and a population of 200. Afterward, its population fell each decade. Its post office closed on April 28, 1990. It still has several area homes, an active Methodist Church, two grain elevators, and a population of 18. It is located in Eureka Township, 16 miles northwest of Kingman.

The old post office is in Rago, Kansas, and is run by Kathy Alexander.

Grain elevator in Rago, Kansas, by Kathy Alexander.

The Rago Trading Post was established in early 1883 at a location two miles east and four miles south of the present town site. In September 1883, it moved four miles north, and a post office was established. The town site was platted in 1886, and its location was two and one-half miles west of the trading post. Several businesses were built, and the post offices from Old Rago, Trento, and Pitt were moved to the new town site in 1887. They thought it would be an ideal site for the Hutchinson and Southern Railroad to build tracks to, but instead, the tracks were built one-half mile east. The town moved, once again, in 1900 and has stayed in that location. In 1910, Rago was on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, had a local retail trade, telegraph and express offices, a money order post office with one rural route, and a population of 125. Located in Valley Township, it is 17 miles southwest of Kingman.

Catholic School in Waterloo, Kansas.

Waterloo began as a way station where two trails met. A small village began developing in 1879, and a plat was filed on July 7. The post office was named Stanford since its establishment on March 5, 1878, and was changed to Waterloo in 1881. Waterloo never became a railroad town, as had been hoped, because the railroad went through Murdock about five miles south.