Ghost Town of the week: Week of October 26th, 2014: Schroyer

Welcome to my blog! I have been exploring Kansas for ten years and have visited more than 400 towns. There's nothing quite like rolling into a dead town in Kansas and trying to imagine all the history that went on at the site: how many children grew up and went to school there, how many adults made a living there, or how many countless memories were made there. There are thousands of Ghost Towns in Kansas, and more than half the towns I have visited are defined by me as Ghost Towns. I define a Ghost Town as one with a population of less than 50 and/or have either a large number of abandoned buildings or a large number of empty lots where buildings were. Towns that have lost at least 75% of their peak population and have less than 200 people I also will include in my Ghost Towns list.

The first Ghost Town I will list on this blog is Schroyer. The name of the town is also spelled Shroyer.

Schroyer is located in central Marshall County, about 10 miles south of Marysville. The town can be accessed via East River Road, which runs south from Marysville and passes by the Alcove Spring State Historic Site, which is just a couple miles south of Schroyer. At the junction of East River Road and Pheasant Road is a large wooden sign that reads "SCHROYER". This used to be the sign on the old train depot. The townsite itself is about half a mile west on Pheasant Road.

Driving west on Pheasant Road, you will cross railroad tracks (this railroad is still in use) and then you will reach a gate, as the road becomes a private farm trail that runs west to the Blue River. To the south you will see what you see in this picture: a lot of overgrown trees and a very beat-up and grass-covered dirt track, which seems to lead south over a hill and on forever.

There's a reason I chose this town as my first-ever Ghost Town entry on this blog. The town was founded in the 1880s and never grew to be very large, but from what I've found online it existed as late as the 1950s. In my old car I didn't risk driving down the dirt track while being so far from home, but I'm pretty confident that this is a surviving city street from the original town. And notice the aerial maps view I posted. There appear to be a number of ruins visible in the overgrowth. That fascinates me. So, if you have a vehicle you think can handle the beat-up dirt track, visit Schroyer and check out the ruins that are left! (WARNING: I'm not positive that the site is not on private property, so use caution).