Main Street in Melvern, Kansas, looking south, 1900.
Melvern, Kansas, along the Marias des Cygnes River in Osage County, got its start when settlers arrived in the area in the 1860s. First built about half a mile northeast of the town’s current location, the town was named Junction Hills. The first school was a log cabin close to the river, but a sturdier building was constructed from heavy timbers and stone from nearby quarries in 1870, which also served as a town meeting place and as a church for several denominations on Sundays.
On a hill overlooking the river, it was determined that the site wasn’t a good location for expansion due to the threat of flooding, so the town’s founders platted a new location in 1870. Within the first year, Melvern boasted three dry goods stores, a blacksmith, a drugstore, and a steam-powered sawmill. When it was incorporated in 1884, the town was renamed after the birthplace of one of its founders’ parents, the Malvern Hills of Scotland. But when the town’s charter came back, the name was misspelled and changed to Melvern.
Hand digging the railroad cut at Melvern, Kansas, 1882. The original school can be seen in the background.
Growth in Melvern was slow at first, but in 1884 the Kansas City and Emporia Railroad built lines through town, shipping hard stone from a nearby rich vein, cattle, grain, and even clams from the river. Within just a couple of years, the population boomed to about 500. In 1890, brothers Charles E. and William H. Warner established one of two woven-wire manufacturing businesses, helping stabilize the town’s economy into the 20th century. By the late 1800s, Melvern was home to four doctors, four lawyers, three general stores, four restaurants, three hotels, three drug stores, three livery stables, a couple of hardware stores, a bank, an undertaker, a broom factory, and a newspaper. The town was a trading and shipping hub for the surrounding rural areas, with bridges critical to providing farmers with access to local markets.
In 1909, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad built an impressive steel truss bridge that spanned the existing double track used today through Melvern. The bridge was built as an overpass to avoid a dangerous crossing through Melvern. Not in typical form, the bridge’s design was actually the railroad’s standard truss design used for train traffic, featuring a comparatively narrow deck width of 15 feet and a tall vertical clearance of 26 feet. Construction started in May 1909 and was completed by the end of the summer.
Melvern, Kansas Truss Bridge 1909.
In the early 1920s, Melvern added a cheese factory, along with a candy factory and a Jolly Time Popcorn factory.
Topeka Daily Capital, August 1970.
On August 14, 1970, a Santa Fe freight train derailed late in the afternoon, spilling and igniting its cargo of liquid propane gas. In the ensuing explosion close to the downtown area, eight people were injured, and many buildings were destroyed or damaged. Fire crews from as far away as Topeka joined the battle to contain the blaze.
In 1974, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a mile-long earthen dam four miles west of Melvern to reduce flooding in the river basin, especially after the Great Flood of 1951. The resulting Melvern Lake continues to attract water enthusiasts to the eastern edge of the Flint Hills region. In addition to the Corps-run campgrounds and shoreline, Eisenhower State Park, formerly known as Melvern State Park, sits on the north shore of the 6,900-acre lake and includes over 1,300 acres of prairie, over 400 acres of woodland, and a variety of recreational opportunities. The state park was renamed in 1990 to honor former U.S. President and Kansas native, Dwight D. Eisenhower. A 10,000-acre Wildlife Area sits adjacent to the park.
Railroad Park in Melvern, Kansas. You can see the Truss Bridge in the background. Photo by Kathy Alexander.
In more recent years, the city established Railroad Park to commemorate the historic truss bridge and the railroad’s extensive history in the town.
As of the 2020 census, Melvern’s population stands at 356. Melvern is located in Osage County.
More information:
Melvern Downtown, by Kathy Alexander.
©Dave Alexander, Legends of Kansas, May 2026.
Also See:
Melvern Lake & Eisenhower State Park
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad
Osage County Photo Print Gallery
Sources:
On-site information at Railroad Park in Melvern.
City of Melvern