Old school in Lafontaine, Kansas, courtesy American Ghost Riders.
La Fontaine, in Talleyrand Township of Wilson County, Kansas, was established on March 14, 1879, when a post office was opened. Today, it is a ghost town.
Amid an excellent farming community, other settlers followed, and a store was opened.
In 1886, the Missouri Pacific Railroad was built through the area, securing the little town’s future.
On March 13, 1894, the town and post office’s name changed from La Fontaine to Lafontaine.
In May 1896, a tornado swept through Lafontaine, destroying numerous farm buildings, wrecking several others, and injuring several people.
The telephone system was installed in 1902. In 1910, it was described as a thriving little town with all the main lines of business enterprise, including a bank, a newspaper, telegraph and express offices, and a money order post office with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 250.
Like many other farm towns in Kansas, the population declined in the following decades.
Its large two-story brick school closed, businesses moved or failed, and the post office shut its doors forever on August 10, 1991.
Though a few people still live in this tiny community, it has no open businesses, the old school is collapsing, and its streets are lined with broken sidewalks. However, it still boasts the active Calvary Baptist Church. As of the 2020 census, the community’s population and the nearby areas were 58.
Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Lafontaine, Kansas.
It is located in the southwest corner of Wilson County, eight miles south of Fredonia and west of Neodesha.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated January 2026.
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Sources:
American Ghost Riders Facebook
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.