Missouri Pacific Sign Board in Mont Ida, Kansas by H. Killam, 1960.
Mont Ida, Kansas, in Washington Township of Anderson County, is an extinct town, as its post office closed decades ago. However, it is a census-designated place; as of the 2020 census, the area’s population was 23.
Dr. Enos J. Broomhall settled the land on which Mount Ida would be established in 1857. He homesteaded, bought land, and built a stone house on the northeast edge of what would become the town. In the 1870s, Broomhall constructed a larger two-story home beside the stone house for his wife and their three children.
The site was on a nearly level, high-upland prairie surrounded by an old, well-developed agricultural country.
The Brethren Church was organized in 1872 in Peter Struble’s home, and his brother Jesse Studebaker was the first pastor.
Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot in Mont Ida, Kansas.
On October 11, 1879, a town company was formed with charter members of O.F. Garrison from St. Louis, Missouri; W.A. Johnson of Garnett; F.M. Shaw of Paola; E.S. Hunt of Garnett; W.H. Conover of Garnett; F.G. Barber of Garnett; and Enos J. Broomhall. The town company then scouted Anderson County to find a site for a railroad station along the new St. Louis, Kansas, and Arizona Railroad. A site was chosen on land donated by Dr. Broomhall, and the railroad surveyed and platted the town in 1880. The first town built southwest of Garnett was first called Oneida. J.D. Huffman, J.A. Stoner, and Frank Gray were some of the first settlers on the townsite in September 1880. A post office was established on December 6, 1880, with Frank Gray as the postmaster.
The railroad needed water to refill the locomotive boilers, so it used the railroad grade to build a dam to create an eleven-acre lake known as Crystal Lake. Water from the lake was pumped into a water tower.
A great deal of business was done in the early 1880s. In addition to the trade in general merchandise, the baling and shipping of hay was profitable. It was located on the Arizona Division of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. It had a railroad depot with stockyards, a schoolhouse, a post office, and a blacksmith shop.
On February 9, 1881, the town and post office names were changed from Oneida to Mont Ida, after Mont Lewis, an early settler and relative of Enos J. Broomhall, and Ida for his oldest daughter.
That year, Mont Ida became a telegraph station, and S.B. Cooper was the depot agent and telegrapher. Several other businesses opened that year, including J.A. Stoner’s blacksmith shop, J.L. Lesh’s hardware and implement store, and three hay presses with operators William Parkinson, John Campbell, and the Graves Brothers. Dr. J.B. Jones moved his drug store from Central City and began practicing medicine with Dr. Broomhall. With a growing population, the District #39 schoolhouse was built that year, with Maggie Moore as the first teacher.
Missouri Pacific Railroad.
Frank Gray opened the first general store in a stone building on December 1, 1881, and the post office was moved there.
A schoolhouse was built in the spring of 1882, and after completion, Maggie Moore taught the first term of school. At about the same time, Reverend Mr. Huffman preached the first sermon on the townsite at the new schoolhouse.
The new Methodist Episcopal Church building was dedicated on December 20, 1885, with Reverend E.C. Boaz of Baldwin conducting the service.
Livery in Mont Ida, Kansas.
By the 1890s, the railroad track east of Mont Ida had changed from the old low-water bridge, as the trains had to pull three miles of steep upgrade to get to town. A new trestle bridge was built across Cedar Creek, creating a more manageable grade and straightening the track into town.
On May 31, 1891, a Brethren Church church building was dedicated.
In 1903, the Missouri Pacific had four stations within Anderson County, which included Greeley, Garnett, Mont Ida, and Westphalia. At that time, Mont Ida’a station was a busy depot with 30 trains every 24 hours, and that year, it made about $150,000 from farm trade along the line. Mont Ida’s depot was located right next to the stockyard, allowing the farming town’s goods to be shipped easily from their area to other locations.
In 1903, a train collided with another freight train passing between Garnett and Mont Ida, killing 11 people. The foreman in charge was a local from Garnett. This situation arose when the Missouri Pacific Railroad added passenger trains to its routes, which allowed citizens to travel from Mont Ida to Garnett and Topeka.
Dr. C.B. Harris, Sr. came from Westphalia and practiced medicine in Mont Ida from 1906-1910. He moved his practice to Garnett in 1910. Afterward, the telephone company used Dr. Harris’s old office, with Lena Ratliff and Grace Reed operating the switchboard.
In 1910, Mont Ida was described as one of the thriving little towns of Anderson County. That year, the railroad put a dam across Cedar Creek and pumped water to its water tower. At that time, it was still a station on the Missouri Pacific Railroad. It had about 20 business houses, express and telegraph offices, a money order post office with one rural route, and a population of 200.
Mont Ida, Kansas Bank.
The Mont Ida State Bank was established in 1911. J.W. Becker bought the controlling interest in the bank, and his wife operated it until his death in March 1933. After his death, Mrs. Becker closed the bank in November and moved to Garnett.
The town’s population peaked at almost 200 in 1915. Afterward, it began to decline, as residents no longer needed to rely on the train. Although the railroad was still needed to ship grain and livestock, farmers could ship their products locally, and residents began shopping in the larger town of Garnett.
In August 1920, a severe wind storm extensively damaged the Brethren Church church building, and a new church was built. That year, an extensive coal chute was constructed west of the water tower and depot for refueling. The old water tower was replaced in 1921.
A fire in 1922 destroyed the new Brethren Church, and it was rebuilt again.
Lightning struck the school in 1928, and it burned. Construction began on a new school, and while it was being built, Miss Hazel Jones held classes for grades one through four in the Methodist parsonage, and Miss Anna Nichols taught classes for grades five through eight in the Church of the Brethren. The new school was a two-story brick building, steam heated with electric lights, that cost $18,000 to build. It was dedicated on November 17, 1929. Miss Jones spent eight years teaching at Mont Ida.
Mont Ida, Kansas Street Scene, 1913.
In 1929, Swarthout’s Lumberyard and Hardware business burned.
Old Methodist Church in Mont Ida, Kansas.
As the town’s population continued to decline, Mont Ida’s post office closed on August 31, 1944.
The Methodist Episcopal Church closed in the 1950s
The Amish Church obtained the Methodist Episcopal Church building in 1961 and established the South District Sunday School House. It is used for Sunday School and Bible School, and the church’s women meet to quilt and do mission work.
Today, little remains of the town of Mont Ida. The only business is Mont Ida Meats, where livestock is butchered and processed. The Church of the Brethren continues to hold weekly services, and the Amish operates the school.
Mont Ida is located about nine miles southwest of Garnett, the county seat.
© Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated October 2024.
Old school in Mont Ida, Kansas.
Also See:
Extinct Towns in Anderson County
Sources:
Anderson County Historical Society
Anderson County Review, April 2016
Weers, Clarissa; Lost Kansas Communities, Chapman Center for Rural Studies, Kansas State University, December 2016.