List of ghost towns in Kansas facts for kids
This is an incomplete list of ghost towns in the state of Kansas.
Causes
There are many reasons as to why a community becomes abandoned (or nearly abandoned).
- Transportation – With the development of major highways and interstates, people were willing to travel farther for goods and services causing local businesses in smaller towns to lose customers and ultimately close. The more businesses that close the more people are apt to want to move away to a bigger town. Transportation has played a major role in settlement in Kansas. As traffic from the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails increased, towns boomed along them. When railroads were established towns developed along the tracks or even moved to where the tracks were.
- Politics – In Kansas, the political atmosphere was highly divided. Towns were either pro-slavery or abolitionist. When Kansas became a free state in 1861, pro-slavery towns died out. Survival of a town also depended on if it won the county seat. Towns that were contenders for the county seat and lost typically saw most, if not all, of their town die out.
- Lack of employment – Towns that catered to a specific industry like coal mining or military housing were boom towns that quickly died when their markets collapsed. Some towns were abandoned in the 1930s during the Dust Bowl period which mainly relied on agriculture.
- Eminent domain / flood control – Since 1951, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have sought to control floods through the building of dams along rivers and the resulting outcome is a town having to be moved or abandoned and demolished.
- Environmental degradation – remnants of lead and zinc mining can cause soil contamination that can render entire communities uninhabitable; e.g. Treece.
List
List of ghost towns in Kansas, which aren't incorporated cities or unincorporated communities:
Allen County
- Cofachique
- Octagon City
Anderson County
Atchison County
Butler County
Chase County
Cherokee County
Cheyenne County
- Calhoun
- Jaqua
- Lawnridge
- Marney
- Orlando
Clark County
Clay County
- Broughton
- Browndale
Cloud County
Cowley County
Decatur County
- Bassetville
- Decatur
- Hawkeye
- Hooker
- Jackson
- Lund
- Sheffield
- Shibboleth
- Stephen
- Vallonia
Doniphan County
Douglas County
Elk County
Ellis County
- Chetolah
- Easdale
- Hog Back
- Mendota
- Rome
- Smoky Hill City
- Stockrange
- Turkville
Ellsworth County
Finney County
Franklin County
Geary County
- Alida
- Pawnee
Gove County
- Alanthus
- Hackberry
- Jerome
Graham County
- Fargo
- Happy
- Houston
- Kebar
- Millbrook
- Olean
- Roscoe
- Togo
- Turnerville
- Whitfield
- Wild Horse
Greeley County
Greenwood County
Harper County
Harvey County
Haskell County
- Santa Fe
Jewell County
Labette County
- Mortimer
Leavenworth County
Lincoln County
- Bacon
- Bayne
- Cedron
- Herman
- Lone Walnut
- Milo
- Monroe
- Orbitello
- Orworth
- Paris
- Pinon
- Pleasant Valley
- Pottersburg
- Rosette
- Topsy
- Towerspring
- Union Valley
- Woodey
- Yorktown
Linn County
Logan County
- McAllaster
- Sheridan
Marion County
Marshall County
Mitchell County
- Blue Hill
- Buel
- Coursens Grove
- Elmira
- Saltville
- Victor
- Walnut Grove
- West Asher
Montgomery County
- Le Hunt
Morris County
- Comiskey
Neosho
- Ladore
Norton County
- Bower
- Brett
- Cactus
- Devizes
- Fairhaven
- Hanback
- Hedgewood
- Rayville
- Rockwell
- Smithton
- Wakeman
Osborne County
- Banks
- Bristow
- Cheyenne
- Delhi
- Deliverance
- Dial
- Emley
- Forney
- Free Will
- Handy
- Pleasant Plain
- Potterville
- Roundmound
- Twin Creek
- Vincent
- Yoxall
Ottawa County
Phillips County
- Crow
- Dickeyville
- Goode
- Jimtown
- Luctor
- Matteson
- Myrtle
- Pleasant Green
- Powell
- Wagnerville
- West Cedar
Rawlins County
Reno County
Republic County
Rice County
Rooks County
- Adamson
- Alcona
- Amboy
- Chandler
- Cresson
- Earnest
- Frankton
- Gould City
- Highhill
- Hoskins
- Igo
- Laton
- McHale
- Motor
- Nyra
- Portage
- Slate
- Sugarloaf
- Survey
- Rockport
Rush County
- Belfield
- Brookdale
- Fenton
- Flavius
- Hampton
- Hutton
- Lippard
- Olney
- Pioneer
- Ryan
- Saunders
- West Point
Russell County
- Bayne
- Blue Stem
- East Wolf
- Fay
- Forest Hill
- Greenvale
- Hawley
- Jack
- Kennebec
- Success
- Winterset
- Woodville
Seward County
Shawnee County
Sheridan County
- Adell
- Alcyone
- Chicago
- Lucerne
- Museum
- Mystic
- Phelps
- Sheridan
- Ute
- Violenta
Smith County
- Cora
- Anderson
- Clifford
- Corvallis
- Covington
- Crystal Plains
- Custer
- Germantown
- Hardilee
- Jacksonburg
- Judson
- Ohio
- Troublesome
- Twelve Mile
- Tyner
- Uhl
Stevens County
Sumner County
- Bushnell
- Cleardale
- Doster
- Ewell
- Metcalf
- Roland
- Sumner City
Thomas County
- Copeland
- Cumberland
- Kuka
- Otterbourne
- Quickville
Trego County
- Banner
- Bosna
- Cyrus
- Wilcox
Wabaunsee County
- Vera
Washington County
- Strawberry
Wichita County
See also
- List of counties in Kansas
- List of townships in Kansas
- List of cities in Kansas
- List of unincorporated communities in Kansas
- List of census-designated places in Kansas
- Lists of places in Kansas
- Kansas locations by per capita income
- Kansas census statistical areas
- Kansas license plate county codes
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List of ghost towns in Kansas Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.