Missouri Pacific Railroad Locomotive
Mina, Kansas, an extinct town in Marshall County, was once a trading point between Axtell and Summerfield.
It was located on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, 20 miles northeast of Marysville. After the railroad tracks were laid in 1887, J. R. Sittler built a warehouse in 1888 and bought grain.
In 1889, W. G. Wooley and Newman Erb laid out a town and named it Mina for the wife of J. R. Sittler. The same year, a railroad depot was built with L. Rouse, who had charge of the grain elevator, as the agent. The same year J. R. Sitler built a grain elevator, and a post office was established on November 20. In 1890 A. C. Axtell erected a store building, and L.D. Rouse erected the first residence just north of the store. Farmers built a blacksmith shop in 1894, and a church building began being built the same year. The church was dedicated in June 1895. A schoolhouse was built in 1898.
By 1910 Mina had a population of 38. However, it did not grow, and even though there was significant shipping of grain and livestock in 1917, it was called home to only 13 people, but the church was still thriving, and there was still a general merchandise store.
In the end, however, the railroad failed to survive, the brick depot was sold and razed, the schoolhouse was moved, and the townsite returned to the land. The post office closed on December 15, 1925.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated February 2023.
Also See:
Extinct Towns of Marshall County
Sources:
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Forter, Emma Elizabeth Calderhead; History of Marshall County, Kansas: Its People, Industries, and Institutions; B.F. Bowen, 1917.