A Place in History: Past Villages and Communities in Johnson County
While many modern cities celebrate milestone anniversaries, other cities, towns, villages and communities have long since disappeared from our landscape. We have featured many such towns of the past in previous newsletters, but there are scores of others. Although they have long since vanished, remnants of their existence and interest in their histories continue. Here is a brief look into a few of those towns and some of the circumstances that led to their demise.
Location, Location, Location
With the opening of Johnson County for settlement, frontier towns sprouted throughout the area. Location was a critical component to the success of towns. Early settlements crowded around waterways and natural resources. In addition, locating along existing transportation routes and later attracting new transportation routes were key to a town’s survival. Towns sprang up along overland routes, stagecoach lines, railroads and later highways. Commerce continues as a critical factor in the success of the cities today.
Monticello, laid out as a town in 1857, was named after the Virginia estate of Thomas Jefferson. Early success came from its location near the overland trails and military roads. In 1858, businesses in Monticello were booming and the town boasted 250 people. Although a tornado hit the town later that year, the townspeople rebuilt. Ahead of the game in development and prosperity, the town of Monticello was an early favorite for the county seat. However, it lost the distinction to the favored central location of Olathe. As new roads and transportation routes were built over the years, they bypassed this town. The Monticello Post Office ultimately closed in 1905. The former town site of Monticello is now in the City of Shawnee.
Monticello was not the only town in the county vying for the honor of county seat. A little know town of Princeton, founded in 1857 on Cedar Creek near Olathe, had similar aspirations. Although it shared a favored central location with Olathe, it lost out in the vote. In short, that was the end of Princeton. The former town site of Princeton is now a part of the City of Olathe.
Border Towns
Some of the early settlements along the Missouri-Kansas border were in essence an extension of pre-existing towns in Missouri. One such case was Oxford, created in 1857. Oxford Township was originally named Santa Fe Township, after New Santa Fe, a neighboring Missouri border town. A number of early Oxford settlers were from the Missouri side and had distinct pro-slavery political beliefs. With the onset of the Civil War, many residents left the town and joined the Confederate Union soldiers. Known as a rebel community, the town of Oxford did not fare well under their control. They took lumber from razed buildings for use in new stables or as firewood. Citizens of southern sympathies who had left the area returned after the war to find their homes destroyed.
At the end of four years [of] war, they straggled back, haggard with hardships and cares, impoverished in purse, with broken health, and utterly dispirited, to find their fine dwellings burned or torn down, the magnificent orchards dead from neglect or destroyed by vandals, the fences gone, and fields a wilderness of weeds; — only ruin and desolation where once was thrift and prosperity.
Atlas Map of Johnson County, Kansas 1874.
Of the buildings that remained after the war, many were moved to New Santa Fe, and the town of Oxford never recovered. The City of Leawood now contains the former town site of Oxford.
The turbulent town of Aubry also suffered from an unfortunate case of location. It was surveyed and organized in 1858, named after noted Santa Fe trader F.X. Aubry. Its location near the Missouri line brought difficulties. An early historian of Johnson County noted:
With the commencement of the national difficulties, rural quiet and peace came to an abrupt end. Located on the border of Missouri—the worst part of Missouri too where the adherents of rebellion were most numerous and rampant—the township was most unfortunately situated.
The border town of Aubry just happened to be located where most of the Missouri insurgents entered Kansas. Aubry was a town of divided sentiments. With the onset of the Civil War, a number of citizens joined the army of one side or the other. Many of those that stayed attempted to maintain a neutral stance. It was considered wise to not have an opinion on the war. Raids began in 1862 and Aubry was often the first target for pillaging bands as they crossed into Kansas Territory. The town became known as a battleground. The Aubry Post Office was closed in 1862, reestablished in 1866 and finally eliminated in 1888. What remained of the town of Aubry eventually merged with Stilwell, a settlement established 30 years later a half-mile to the east.
Rival Towns
The conflict over whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free or slavery state often led to two towns of opposing viewpoints located close to each other. Pro-slavery settlers started the town site of Lexington, in northwestern Johnson County, in October 1855. In 1857, the anti-slavery town of De Soto formed just a few miles to the north. Lexington was considered very prosperous at the time, with a post office, a two-story hotel, a general store, blacksmith shop and a few houses. The daily stage coach that traveled between Kansas City and Lawrence stopped for dinner and a change of horses at the hotel. The hotel also served as an Indian supply office. As described by J.L. Morgan, a De Soto settler:
De Soto was a Yankee town, Lexington a Southern town, hence there was a political as well as business rivalry between the two. But the latter town was gradually deserted, and its site is now an excellent farm.
Lexington’s politics led to its demise. Kansas entered the Union as a free state, and free-state towns had a district advantage when attracting settlers and future resources. By 1864, the town was vacant and purchased by Hugh Penner for use as farmland. Pro-slavery towns slowly began to vanish from the landscape. The post office in Lexington was discontinued on January 14, 1863. The hotel, such an important feature to this town, stood until 1919, when it was torn down.
Another example of rival towns was the pro-slavery settlement of McCamish, located near where the Santa Fe Trail crossed Bull Creek in southwestern Johnson County, and its rival anti-slavery town, Lanesfield, just a short distance away. Although the town of Lanesfield was on the winning side of this battle, passing McCamish in longevity, the victory was short-lived. By 1870, Lanesfield would experience a new challenge.
The Railroad Cometh…Or Not
Like the town of Lanesfield, the life and death of many Johnson County communities was often tied to the railroad. Attracting the railway was considered key to their growth. Lanesfield was one of many communities in the area that vanished when the railroad did not come to town. The neighboring community of Martin (also known as Martinsburgh) was instead the beneficiary of a highly-sought after train depot. It was renamed Edgerton, after the Chief Engineer responsible for laying the route of the railroad, and residents of Lanesfield and McCamish moved to the booming town.
Lexington also did not fair well after the Civil War when the railroad passed it by. Although Lexington had dominated local politics before the Civil War, De Soto, with benefit of Union supporters, ultimately got the railroad after the war. Other communities failed slowly but surely when unable to attract the railroad. Squiresville was the first stop along the stage route from Westport and was located two miles east of Ocheltree in southern Johnson County. After the war, the railroad bypassed the town and that proved to be the end of Squiresville.
Many readers may not realize that some towns in our area are named for prominent railroad officials. Morris, established in 1866, was named after an officer of the Santa Fe Railroad. Some older communities changed their names to honor railroad men in hopes of attracting the railroad. The community of Waseca became Holliday in honor of Cyrus K. Holliday, founder of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. A junction of two lines of the AT&SF was later located in the town.
Nature’s Wrath
Although attracting the railroad was a key factor in the life of a town, sometimes even that was not enough to ensure success. In some cases in Johnson County, nature itself delivered the final blow. The town of Wilder was located on fertile land across the river from Bonner Springs. Named for Edward Wilder, the secretary-treasurer of the Santa Fe railroad, Wilder showed bright promise. Not only freight trains, but also passenger trains stopped in town, enabling residents to travel to and from Kansas City or Lawrence. Unfortunately, nature wrought havoc on the town. The flood of 1951 devastated the town of Wilder. The flood also affected the soil itself and crops no longer flourished as they had in the past. The flood of 1951 also dealt the final blow to the nearby river town of Holliday. The former town sites of Holliday and Wilder are now within the boundaries of the City of Shawnee.
Casualty of War
War brings about many changes, but few would guess that World War II would cause the demise of a town in the heart of the Midwest. Johnson County lost a town when approximately 9,000 acres of land including about 150 farms were selected as the site for a new ammunitions plant. Prairie Center was a thriving community originally established on April 9, 1871. The town was aptly named, located in the heart of prairie land equidistant from Edgerton to the south, Gardner to the southeast, De Soto to the northeast and Eudora to the northwest. Prairie Center boasted three churches, a post office, a store, a blacksmith shop and several other amenities of a solid rural town. Chosen for its easy access to major highways and its relatively isolated rural location, Prairie Center was obliterated when it and the surrounding farmland (ironically including the former town site of Lexington) became the site for the Sunflower Ordnance Works.
Modern Boomtown
The establishment of the Sunflower Ordnance Works in 1942 flooded nearby De Soto with workers looking for housing. Sunflower Village was built by the federal government in 1943 to house thousands of people attracted by the opportunity to work at the ammunitions plant. The community was located just north of the plant and was operated by the Federal Public Housing Administration. The Sunflower Sentinel, official newsletter for the Sunflower Ordnance Works, published the plan for Sunflower Village in 1943. The plan for the 175-building site showed houses 40 feet apart with space for a miniature victory garden in back. The buildings included 352 housing units with two bedrooms, 250 with three bedrooms and 100 with five bedrooms. The landscape plan called for thousands of trees and bushes to beautify the complex.
A new addition made to Sunflower Village in 1945 included 12 two-bedroom units and six one-bedroom units. Adjacent to the Village was a smaller trailer park often referred to as Trailer Town. Sunflower Village included a City Hall complete with ballroom, a post office, a school, a bowling alley, a grocery store, a dairy store, a beauty shop and a theater. A service station selling Phillips 66 gasoline and Firestone accessories opened in 1945. In the 1950s, Sunflower Village experienced its peak population of around 5,000-6,000 occupants, including military personnel.
In 1958, the plant was in stand-by status and the need for nearby housing was no longer pressing. Sunflower Village was sold to Louis Ensley of Lawton, OK on November 30, 1959 for $313,000. It operated on a private basis featuring low to moderate rent apartments. In the 1970s, Paul Hansen had a vision to change Sunflower Village into a retirement community. He renamed the site Clearview City, because of the prairie scenery. The change of name was also an attempt to disassociate the property from the stigma attached to Sunflower Village, which had fallen into disrepair over the years. Many of the trailer homes that dotted Sunflower Village were sold off for $1,000 each in the 1970s. Today, the remaining houses of Sunflower Village can still be seen in this quiet community. Although it still retains its own zip code, Clearview City is now a part of De Soto, annexed in 2001.
A Place in History
Many cities and towns in Johnson County are built upon the remnants of former communities, long since forgotten. Residing in overlooked fields, camouflaged by luxurious new subdivisions or surrounded by larger cities, their struggles to exist form a unique chapter in history. While some showed great promise initially, others quickly faded. Whether due to nature, politics, war, development or just sheer bad luck, the demise of these cities and communities is an integral part of the county’s history. While we celebrate the upcoming 150th anniversary of Johnson County in 2005, it is fitting to recognize the contribution of the towns and communities of the past that, if nothing else, have earned their place in history.
--ALBUM vol. 17, no. 3 (summer 2004)