Main Street in Walnut, Kansas, courtesy Google Maps.
Walnut, Kansas, is a small town in the northwestern part of Crawford County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 187, and its total area was 1.00 square mile, of which 0.99 square miles was land and 0.01 square miles was water.
This community was first called Glenwood when it was established.
Presbyterian Church in Walnut, Kansas.
The Methodist congregation was organized in 1869 in F. Robins’s residence. At that time, it had ten members. Services were held in Robins’ residence during bad weather and in the groves when the weather allowed. The Catholic Church was first organized in Neosho County that year. One of the fathers from the Osage Mission organized it in John Mudd’s farm residence. In 1870, the place where meetings were held was changed to Walnut, where a small church building was erected.
The Presbyterians were organized into a church body by Reverend H H. Camburn, who has since been pastor. The organization took place in the schoolhouse, where the services were subsequently conducted for some time.
A small frame school building was erected in the fall of 1870, and J. Johnston taught the first school in the winter of 1870-71.
The Missouri Pacific and Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railways were built through the area in 1871, giving the town the advantage of railroad lines.
The town was first laid out in 1871 by a town company, of which J. Miller, H. Burns, F. Robins, J. Burk, Dr. J.C. Petit, and Louis Giddings were members. The land was taken as a claim by H. Burns, who was furnished with money by the company with which he could obtain legal title. The original site comprised 40 acres, which was laid off into town lots. This was a part of the Osage lands, and the title was in dispute between the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway and settlers. Among the early inhabitants of the town were Fabius Robins, J. Miller, Ira Boyle, H. Burns, H. Shackleton, and J.A. Goff.
Old buildings in Walnut, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
H. Shackelton built the first house on the townsite. It was a little box house at the foot of Main Street, which he used as a storeroom for general merchandise. The next building was a grain elevator, built by Jacobs & Burk, that was later occupied by Davis & Co. For a time, W. Jacobs used the building for a residence until the completion of his dwelling, which was the third building erected in the place. Jacobs, for a while, used his dwelling as a boarding house. Later, it was occupied by W. McFall, who had a stock of hardware. S.H. Cover next erected a store and began dealing in general merchandise. Newton & Kelly followed with a merchandising establishment consisting of general goods.
When a post office was established on April 10, 1873, it was called Walnut Station, after Little Walnut Creek on which it is located. The town’s growth was extremely slow and unpromising during its first few years of existence.
In 1875, the townsite was purchased by Perry & Goff.
In 1876, the title to the ceded lands was quieted by the United States Court, which also settled the settlers’ fears regarding property. By this means, the town was made ready for the more lively and substantial growth that followed.
On April 4, 1877, the town’s name was shortened to Walnut.
An addition was built to the school building in 1879 to satisfy the increased demand for educational facilities. That year, H.C. Bruner built Walnut Mills, a grist and flour mill.
Methodist Episcopal Church in Walnut, Kansas today by Kathy Alexander.
In 1880, Steadman & Gregory put in a large stock of general merchandise and conducted a successful business. By this time, the town was growing, the townsite was resurveyed, and 40 acres were added to it. About a year later, J. Miller made an addition of 20 acres known as “Miller’s Addition,” and in the fall of 1882, the Robins & Goff and the Burns Additions were made, of 30 and 15 acres, respectively. The enlarged townsite then had an area of 145 acres.
The Methodists erected a church building in 1880 at a cost of $1,500. It is a tastefully constructed one-story frame, finished with a spire and furnished with a bell. By that time, church membership had increased to 60. The same year, the one-story frame Presbyterian Church building was erected for about $1,000. The Baptist denomination also had a church organization that provided services in the schoolhouse.
By the early 1880s, Walnut was at the junction of the Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad and the Nebraska, Topeka, Iola, and Girard Railroads.
E.O. Green began the Walnut Journal in December 1881.
In February 1882, Walnut Mills was sold to McCullough & Hollister, who fitted it with a complete line of new and improved machinery. It contained three runs of stone and had a capacity for grinding 100 bushels of wheat and 300 of corn per day. The principal market for the goods was Texas, and the orders received were much in advance of the supply. The mill building was a two-story frame, measuring 24 by 36 feet, and a 40-horsepower engine supplied the power.
Public School in Walnut, Kansas.
The Walnut Herald was a five-column newspaper briefly published by J. Scurry in 1882. Its circulation was free, and the only revenues were obtained from advertisements.
A new school building was erected in the fall and winter of 1882. It is a two-story frame building measuring 30 by 50 feet and containing four rooms. The district’s bonds were voted to raise the cost of about $3,000.
On November 1, 1882, E.O. Green sold a half-interest of the Walnut Journal to W.M. Holeman, who became associate editor and proprietor. The six-column newspaper was independent in politics and had a circulation of 480 copies.
At that time, the business interests of the town were represented by three general stores, two hardware, two drug and three grocery stores, one restaurant, two hotels, a millinery and dress making establishment, two meat markets, a cabinet and furniture shop, two lumber and coal yards, three grain elevators, two livery stables, a hay press, two blacksmith and wagon shops, a harness shop, a carpenter shop, a barber shop, shoe shop, and two land offices. Situated at a considerable distance from all important surrounding points, the town had the support of a large country trade.
Walnut, Kansas, in 1911.
Joint railroad depot in Walnut, Kansas.
By 1910, Walnut was an incorporated city at the junction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroads. At that time, it had a bank, an opera house, a flour mill, grain elevators two weekly newspapers — the Eagle and the Advance, two hotels, a washing-machine factory, which was also a sawmill and a manufactory for screen doors, a feed mill, a large number of retail establishments, telegraph and express offices and an international money order postoffice with five rural routes. The population in 1910 was 639.
Walnut’s population peaked at 650 in 1920. Afterward, the population declined.
Today, the area’s economy is primarily agricultural based
The community’s students are served by USD 248, headquartered in Girard, Kansas.
Walnut is located 15 miles northwest of Girard, the county seat, eight miles from St. Paul, and about 27 miles from Fort Scott.
An old gas station in Walnut, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
City Hall in Walnut, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
Fire Department, Walnut, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated April 2025.
Also See:
Extinct Towns of Crawford County
Sources:
Silos and farm equipment in Walnut, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
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.
Home Authors; A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Crawford County, KS, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, 1905.
Wikipedia