Extinct Towns of Rooks County

Rooks County, Kansas Farm.

Rooks County, Kansas Farm.

 

Town Post Office Dates Additional Information
Adamson 1875-1892
Alcona 1878-1930 A post-village, located in the township of the same name, it was a little north of the Solomon River and about 15 miles West of Stockton, the county seat. The population of the entire township in 1910 was 320. Though a small place, it was a trading center and rallying point for the people in that part of the country.
Amboy 1882-1894
Ash Grove 1876-1880
Ash Rock 1876-1881
1884-1885
Bradford 1879-1883 The post office moved to Sugar Loaf when it closed.
Cedar 1874 The post office was open for only about five months.
Chandler 1880-1892
Cresson 1879-1888 The post office moved to Palco when it closed.
Earnest 1882-1889
Enfield 1888-1894 The post office moved to Damar when it closed.
Floreyville 1875-1879 The post office moved to Motor when it closed.
Frankton 1883-1887
Highhill 1885-1891
Hobart 1879-1884
Hoskins 1880-1888
Igo 1877-1904 A hamlet on Big Medicine Creek, Igo was 10 miles southeast of Stockton, the county seat, and 5 miles south of Woodston, the nearest shipping point and post office, from which its mail is distributed by rural route, after its post office closed.
Laton-Eagle Creek 1878-1884
1884-1895
1897-1904
The town’s name changed from Eagle Creek to Laton on October 23, 1884. A hamlet located near the East line of Rooks County, about 20 miles southeast of Stockton, the judicial seat, and eight miles from Natoma in Osborne County, from which its mail was distributed by rural route after its post office closed. The population in 1910 was 30.
Letts 1901-1904
McHale 1880-1887
1889-1891
Minety 1882-1885
Motor 1879-1889 The post office moved from Floreyville when it was established. The post office moved to Codell when it was discontinued.
Nyra 1883-1888
Oyer 1882-1885
Portage 1880
1884-1892
Raceburgh 1875-1886
Rockport 1873-1905 Rockport was a hamlet on Bow Creek, about six miles north of Stockton, the county seat, and the place from which it received mail after its post office closed.
Rooks Centre 1872-1886 When Rooks County was officially organized on November 26, 1872, both Stockton and Rooks Center, near Medicine Creek, wanted to be the county seat. The election showed 52 votes for Rooks Centre and 95 for Stockton, ending a bitter controversy. The post office moved to Woodston when it closed.
Slate 1880-1903 A hamlet on Slate Creek, 16 miles northwest of Stockton, the county seat, and 12 miles south of Logan, in Phillips County, from which place it received its mail after its post office closed. The population in 1910 was 36.
Sugar Loaf 1878-1882
1883-1904
A country hamlet, Sugar Loaf was located 10 miles northwest of Stockton, the county seat and nearest shipping point, and 11 miles south of Speed, from which it received mail after its post office closed. The population in 1910 was 15.
Survey 1880-1890
Vertner 1879-1880
Villisca 1880-1881
Webster 1879-1953 Webster was established in Belmont Township on the south fork of the Solomon River in 1869. It grew to a population of more than 20,000 in 1880, when favorable precipitation yielded good crops. However, the following years were interspersed with extreme drought. In 1910, it had a hotel, a bank, several retail establishments, a daily mail stage to Stockton and Bogue, a money order post office with one rural route, and a population of 200. Prolonged drought in the 1930s emphasized the need for storing water for irrigation. The Webster Dam began construction in November 1952 and was completed in 1957. Webster was located 10 miles West of Stockton, the county seat.
Welcome 1880-1883 In the spring of 1859, the Leavenworth and Pikes Peak Express ran the first stage coaches to the new gold-rush town of Denver, Colorado. William Russell of the famous freighting firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell started this stage line. Station #10 was located about eight miles northwest of where Glasco now stands. Later, this location was known as Welcome.

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated June 2026.

Also See:

Kansas Ghost Towns

Kansas Destinations

Rooks County, Kansas

Solomon River

Sources:

Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Cutler, William G.; History of Kansas; A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Kansas Post Office History