More Extinct Towns:
Town | Post Office Dates | Additional Information |
Air | 1880-1900 | Air was located 3.5 miles north and 1.5 west of Miller. |
Badger Creek | 1873-1896 | Badger Creek was southwest of Reading and two miles east of Lang. |
Chicago Mound | None |
Chicago Mound was a small town that was located five miles southeast of Emporia. There was a church here, but it was gone by 1915. All that remains is the cemetery. |
Cross | 1870-1871 | |
Decora | 1859-1862 | Also spelled Decorrah. |
Dell | 1881-1883 1885-1890 |
Dell was 3.5 miles east and 3.5 miles north of Americus. |
Dow Creek | 1873-1874 | Dow Creek was ten miles west and one mile north of Reading. |
Eads | 1878-1884 | |
Eagle Creek | 1870-1873 | |
Elco | 1885-1903 | Elco was a small settlement in the southwestern corner of Lyon County. it was eight miles from Olpe, the nearest railroad station, where it received its mail after the post office closed. |
Elmendaro | 1860-1870 | Also spelled Elmandaro. |
Ewing | 1883-1887 | |
Forest Hill | 1858-1871 | Forest Hill was established in 1858 on a hill that was not forested. However, Timothy McIntire, one of the town’s promoters declared that it was a fine location for a forest. The townsite was located eight miles east of Emporia on Sixth Avenue. All that remains is a stone building on a private farm. |
Foster Springs | 1878-1879 | Foster Springs was southeast of Bushong. |
Fourmile | 1900-1901 | |
Fouse | 1890-1895 | |
Fremont | 1860-1867 1870-1873 1876-1878 |
Fremont was laid out in April 1858 by Dr. Thomas Armor, S.G. Elliott, and W.B. Swisher. Before long it was a thriving village of 25-30 houses, with stores, a post office, and a blacksmith shop. Early on, it had aspirations to become the county seat. The first of the country schools opened when Fremont, north of Emporia, completed the legal organization of their school as District #3 in the spring of 1862. When its aspiration to become the county seat failed, the town dwindled. Even after the village of Fremont withered, the school continued for many years. Fremont was three miles east and two miles south of Americus. Today the old townsite is on a farm. |
Harrisburgh | 1870-1871 | |
Ivy/Bunker Hill | 1870 1871-1896 |
The post office in Bunker Hill was only open for four months in 1870. It was reopened in 1871 and renamed Ivy. The post office closed in 1896. The settlement was located three miles east and one mile south of Admire. |
Lang/Hortonburg | 1882-1900 1900-1905 1919-1924 |
This community, first known as Hortonburg was established in 1882. In 1900, it was officially changed to Lang. The town must have been struggling because its post office closed in 1905. In 1910 Lang was a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. At that time, it had telegraph and express offices, a general store, and a population of 25. Its post office reopened in 1919 but closed its doors for the final time in 1924. It was located nine miles northeast of Emporia. |
Lena Valley | 1872-1887 | Established in Greenwood County. Site loved to Lyon County. |
Magda | 1890-1904 | Magda was an inland hamlet of Lyon County, located nine miles south of Plymouth. In 1910, it was on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. |
Menda | 1900-1901 | Menda was a small hamlet in the southeastern part of Lyon County, seven miles from Hartford, the nearest railroad station. |
Patty’s Mill | 1870-1871 | |
Plumb | 1878-1896 | |
Rock Creek | 1870-1871 | |
Stotler | 1880-1900 | Stotler was a rural community northeast of Miller. It was named for Jacob Stotler of Emporia who was helpful in establishing the post office. The post office was located in private homes and was discontinued when rural routes were commenced from Osage City. |
Trail | 1882-1887 | Trail was located one mile north and three miles west of Allen. |
Verdigris | 1881-1903 | |
Waterloo | 1858-1874 | By February 17, 1857, Lyon County was fully organized and detached from Madison County, with the temporary county seat located at Waterloo. William Mickel built the Waterloo Inn on the Burlingame Road, on the Sac & Fox Reservation line. On June 30, 1858, a post office was established with Mickel appointed as postmaster. In the fall of 1858, Americus was voted by the people to become the county seat. However, Mickel continued to run the post office and the Waterloo Inn. It was a popular stopping place for travelers on the Lawrence and Emporia Road, though it never consisted of not more than half a dozen houses. When the post office closed the Waterloo Inn continued operations. After 90 years of occupancy, it was finally abandoned in 1948. In 1970 the Waterloo Inn building was still standing, but it collapsed by the late 1970s. Waterloo was located southwest of Miller, on the Burlingame Road, just northeast of 142-Mile Creek. |
Waushara | 1858-1862 1863-1895 |
Waushara was located on the Santa Fe Trail, five miles west of the Lyon/Osage County line, and 3/4 mile south of the Lyon/Wabaunsee County line. |
Wiggam | None | Wiggam was a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. It was located five miles east of Emporia, from which it received mail by rural route. |
Wyckoff | 1885-1902 |
© Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated June 2022.
Also See:
Sources:
French, Laura M.; History of Emporia and Lyon County, Kansas, 2009.
Kansas Memory
Kansas State Historical Society
Lyon County Museum