Colbert, Kansas, 1890s.
| Town | Post Office Dates | Additional Information |
| Abram | 1872 | Abram was the first county seat and was platted in April 1871. Myron D. Green was the president of the town company, but the town didn’t make it. The post office was moved from Rocky Hill on February 26, 1872, and back to Rocky Hill on December 5, 1872. |
| Ash Grove | 1916-1944 | An old church and school still stand at 80th and Union Road. |
| Bacon | 1879-1902 | A small hamlet located in Spillman Creek Valley, about 20 miles northwest of Lincoln. Sylvan Grove on the Union Pacific Railroad was the nearest railroad station. |
| Bashan | 1880-1902 | |
| Battle Creek | 1873-1879 | The post office moved to Pinon. |
| Bayne/Ingalls | 1873-1888 1888-1894 |
The town of Ingalls’ name was changed to Bayne on April 10, 1888. |
| Cedron | 1871-1911 | Located in Cedron Township on the headwaters of Spillman Creek and about 20 miles northwest of Lincoln. Lucas, on the Union Pacific Railroad was the nearest railroad station. |
| Colbert | 1889-1904 | Was a small hamlet on East Elkhorn Creek; it was about six miles southeast of Lincoln. |
| Colorado | 1871-1886 | In Colorado Township, the firm of D. Hardesty had a flouring custom mill in operation, with two runs of stones, for which the Saline River furnished the power. In the early 1880s, the mill had already spent $5,000 in making this a good property, and contemplated further expenses and improvements. The post office moved to Beverly. |
| Denmark | 1872-1904 1917-1954 |
One of the first permanent settlements in Lincoln County, it was settled about 1869 by Danish Lutherans who laid the cornerstone for a stone church in 1876. The church and several other buildings still stand. |
| Dewdrop | 1899-1902 | A small settlement about eight miles northwest of Lincoln, the nearest railroad station. The population in 1910 was 20. |
| Elkhorn | 1868-1871 | |
| Glen | 1898-1905 | A hamlet located near the head of Spillman Creek, about 16 miles northwest of Lincoln. Vesper, on the Union Pacific, was the nearest railroad station. |
| Golden Belt | 1879-1886 | |
| Harshbarger | 1874-1876 | |
| Herman | 1874-1893 | |
| Hinckley | 1886 | The post office was only open for a few months, from February 23, 1886, to July 28, 1886. |
| Josalina | 1886 | The post office was only open for a few months, from February 23, 1886, to July 28, 1886 |
| Lone Walnut | 1878-1887 1888-1900 |
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| Margaret | 1882-1902 | A hamlet located 20 miles southwest of Lincoln and five miles northeast of Wilson, in Ellsworth County, the nearest shipping point. |
| Milo | 1872-1938 | A country trading point on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, about 16 miles northeast of Lincoln. In 1910, it had two stores, an express office, a money order post office with one rural route, and a population of 50. |
| Monroe | 1871-1886 | Mrs. Skinner taught the first public school in Lincoln County, at Monroe, in 1870. |
| Orbitello | 1880-1899 | |
| Orworth | 1879-1892 | |
| Paris | 1878-1898 | |
| Pinon | 1879-1888 | The post office moved from Battle Creek. |
| Pleasant Valley | 1873-1896 | |
| Pottersburg | 1870-1904 | Pottersburg, sometimes spelled Pottersburgh, was laid out and platted by A. S. Potter in June 1874. This town was in the center of the coal region of Lincoln County. It was located at the confluence of Bacon and Spillman Creeks and on the proposed line of the Topeka, Salina & Western Railroad. A Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 1875. It also had a Sabbath School. The post office closed on February 29, 1904. it was located about 15 miles northwest of Lincoln and six miles north of Vesper, from which it received its mail after the post office closed. |
| Red Rock | 1869-1871 | M.D. Greene established a post office on April 08, 1869, on Red Rock Creek. It was located five miles east of Lincoln, and it was named for the red sandstone along the creek banks. The post office moved to Rocky Hill. |
| Rocky Hill | 1871-1880 | Rocky Hill sprang up just east of the old paper town of Abram, which was, for a brief time, the county seat. The most important industry in this town was the Graham Brothers flouring mill, established in 1871 by Ezra Hubbard. It was the first mill in the county. The post office was moved from Red Rock on April 4, 1871. Good trade centered around the mill, and several stores and substantial dwellings were built. In 1872, the post office was briefly moved to Abram but back to Rocky Hill the same year. The post office closed on August 30, 1880. In February 1881, Lincoln County voted $75,000 in bonds to aid in building the Topeka, Salina & Western Railroad through the county. Some writers of the time predicted that the railroad’s arrival would make Rocky Hill a place of importance. This did not occur. |
| Rosette | 1879-1900 | |
| Shady Bend | 1880-1963 | A hamlet located on the Union Pacific Railroad nine miles east of Lincoln. In 1910, it had two grain elevators, a general store, a mill, a money order post office, and a population of 40. The town came into the limelight in August 1911, when a young lady named Mary Chamberlain was taken from a buggy at night by masked men and tarred. A number of the most prominent citizens of the community were involved in the affair. |
| Syria | 1881-1887 | |
| Topsy | 1879-1886 | |
| Towerspring | 1879-1904 | A country hamlet located on east Elkhorn Creek, ten miles south of Lincoln, the nearest shipping point. |
| Union Valley | 1877-1888 | |
| Vesper | 1872-1966 | Vesper, Kansas is an extinct town in Lincoln County. However, it still has a small population and a few old homes and buildings. |
| Westfall | 1917-1971 | Located in Madison Township, eight miles south and eight miles east of Lincoln on Elk Drive and 270th Road. The Westfall school closed in 1973, and the building is now used as a community center and as a fire department. Children attend school in Lincoln today. Though there are no active businesses, there are several homes, some old business buildings, and a small population. |
| Woodey | 1874-1888 | |
| Yorktown/Allamead | 1880-1894 1894-1906 |
The town’s name was changed from Allamead to Yorktown on September 5, 1894. In 1910, it was a country hamlet with a general store and a population of 60. Vesper, 12 miles south, was the nearest shipping point. It was located 16 miles northwest of Lincoln. |
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, September 2022.
Also See:
Sources:
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 1911-1912, Edited by George W. Martin, Secretary, State Printing Office, Topeka, KS
Connelley, William E.; A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, Lewis, Chicago, 1918.
Cutler, William G; History of Kansas; A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Historical Directory of Kansas Towns
Kansas Post Office History