The Town of Lanesfield
Lanesfield, Kansas was a town in southwestern Johnson County founded in 1858 by William Gans. Gans, an elder of the Christian Church, came to Kansas from Indiana. Upon his arrival in the Kansas territory, he formed a town company and purchased 160 acres of land. Gans planned for the town to rival neighboring McCamish, a pro-slavery town on the east bank of Bull Creek. He christened the town Lanesfield after James Henry Lane, the leader of the free-state party. Lane had also led the free-state forces during the Battle of Bull Creek in 1856. The battle took place near the town site of Lanesfield.
Lanesfield had all the makings of a prosperous community. One hundred people called the town home. It served as a mail stop on the Santa Fe Trail and was home to three churches, a blacksmith shop, and seventeen houses.
James Henry Lane and Captain John Gordon built a two-story hotel in the town. The stone schoolhouse was built in 1869. In anticipation of more growth, town planners laid out plans for the addition of forty blocks.
Sadly, Lanesfield’s existence as a town was short-lived. In 1870, a branch of the Santa Fe Railroad was built between Olathe and Ottawa. The citizens of Lanesfield hoped that the depot would be built in their town. Despite their hopes, the branch of the railroad bypassed Lanesfield and the depot was built two miles away on farmland belonging to Judge David Martin.
The citizens of Lanesfield moved their buildings to be closer to the railroad. One by one, the churches, blacksmith shop, and homes were relocated to the new town of Edgerton. Eventually, the schoolhouse was the only building from the town of Lanesfield.
--ALBUM vol. 15, no. 2 (spring 2002)