Ghost Town of the Week: Week of November 30th, 2014: Aetna

So far I've showed you primarily Ghost Towns that have quite a lot left of them; abandoned buildings, ruins, and empty streets lie all over places like Croft, Wellsford and Delavan. But a majority of Kansas Ghost Towns don't have that luxury. Many have nothing left, many more have little left that you have to look closely to find. One of these towns is Aetna.

This is Aetna today. A farming operation, a rural fire station and one house is all that's left.

Aetna is located in the heart of the Red Hills and literally in the middle of nowhere, along Aetna Road in southwestern Barber County. The town's post office opened in 1885 and closed in 1946. Aetna is also located in Aetna Township, perhaps the most isolated and sparsely populated township in Kansas; according to Wikipedia, the township covers 123 square miles and has a population of 3. THREE. They may all live in the only remaining house in town, which sat right behind this picture and might not have been occupied.

A few tokens of life still can be found in the desert grass in the Ghost Town. The only house left in town sits just out of the picture on the right.

A red building that looks like a rural fire station still sits on Aetna Road. Behind it sits a handful of buildings that look like they are part of a ranching operation.

Aetna from the south. The rural fire station is on the far left. The ranching operation has taken over the old town.

The town does still have a cemetery, but good luck getting there.

Google Maps view of Aetna. The town's old cemetery sits about half a mile into the prairie north of Cottage Creek Road. A farm track does look like it leads over there, but I would suggest four-wheel drive if you really want to get there,

Getting to Aetna will involve one of the most scenic drives in Kansas; the town is 20 miles from any civilization, and that's the tiny community of Hardtner. You can also get there by going about 20 miles south from US-160 on Aetna Road. This scenic drive passes by the Ghost Town of Deerhead (which has even less remaining) and several ranching and oil drilling operations. There's not much left, but in perhaps the most isolated region of Kansas it's the best there is.

Ghost Town of the Week: Week of November 23rd, 2014: Delavan

As this is my fifth town posted on this blog, you might notice that all the towns I post have little to no information on them online. I do this on purpose because there are many Kansas Ghost Towns that get a lot of coverage on Ghost Town websites or other blogs, and I have visited many of these places and liked them, but because someone has already written about one of these towns, I feel like I shouldn't just duplicate their information and tell you something you already know. Kansas has thousands of Ghost Towns, and many of them that don't get as much coverage are still worth visiting and checking out, like Delavan.

The town's old railroad sign welcomes you to this very tiny hamlet on US-56. It sits in front of the old school, now used as a community building.

Delavan is in the far western part of Morris County and located right on US-56. You can drive through this town in 20 seconds flat without even speeding, and you won't notice much, because there's not much left. I would imagine less than 20 people are left in this little place. But it's actually a cool ghost town with several good ruins.

A rural fire station is the only active business left in town. This building sits just south of US-56.

The only information I can find online about Delavan is that it was founded in 1885, it had 58 people in 1910, and its post office closed in 1992. Most of the town has been replaced by overgrown trees, a few farms in the area bloat the population slightly, but there's not a whole lot left.

Looking north down the town's old main street. US-56 is in the middle. Downtown is almost completely gone except for a large foundation just out of the picture and...

I believe this was the town's bank. It's obviously been burned, but is the most impressive ruin in the town.

There are a few scattered ruins in the town. My favorite was the looming abandoned grain elevator that sits next to an abandoned railroad (with the tracks long gone) on the south side of town.

Actually, I think there are two elevators. The one on the right is so heavily rusted it's orange!

Delavan is one of the easiest-accessible Ghost Towns I have been to. US-56 literally cuts right through the middle of town. If you are ever passing through and you like visiting Ghost Towns, take a couple minutes and explore Delavan. You'll like it.

Ghost Town of the Week: Week of November 16th, 2014: Wellsford

Those of you familiar with Kansas Ghost Towns may know that Freeport, in Harper County, is the smallest incorporated city in Kansas, with just five residents. What you may not know is before 1975, Freeport did not hold that title.

An inset from the city populations section of the 1972 Kansas Road Map. Freeport and Wellsford are highlighted. At this time, Wellsford was the smallest incorporated city in Kansas (Courtesy KDOT).

Wellsford is in the extreme eastern portion of Kiowa County, along US-54. It's just a mile west of the Pratt County line. The town had a post office that closed in 1955. The town was also an incorporated city of the third class until 1975, when it could no longer afford to operate as such and the state legislature unincorporated the city.

The town's former Main Street. Not much is left on it today.

DISCLAIMER: I visited Wellsford in 2010, the city may not look the same today
The town today is expansive, covering close to a quarter square mile, but at first glance there appears to be nearly nothing left. My father said that up until the 1980s there was an old tin grain elevator along US-54 that blew down in a strong thunderstorm. The town still runs a flea market along the highway. And then there's this.

Wellsford Christian Church still operates on the east edge of town. The church backs up to wheat fields and is visible for more than a mile as you approach the town from the east on US-54.

Other than the church and flea market, there are no operating businesses in Wellsford. And there's not much that's even standing anymore.

Along the town's old Main Street you can still see old sidewalks. Note that this portion has been fenced off for some reason.

Most of the city is heavily overgrown; building ruins are not that hard to spot, though, if you look.

A barely visible abandoned house, hidden behind thick overgrowth, on Main Street.

I couldn't find an old school building in the town, unless this is it. 

This abandoned building is a little closer to the old downtown on Main Street. It could've been just a house, a store, or possibly an old two-room school.

The town's former downtown is almost completely gone. It sits towards the south edge of town and the shell of one brick building is the most notable remnant.

Very little is left of Wellsford's downtown. This partially destroyed brick building does remain.

Just behind the brick building ruin is this pile of bricks. This is in the middle of town, but note all the empty lots.

The population listed in the 1970 census for Wellsford was 9. I would guess that's about the number today. There is a farmstead sitting on the south side of town, as well as 2 occupied houses near the flea market, but most of the rest of town is filled with ruins, like this one.

This large concrete ruin sits immediately across the street from the brick building ruin in the old downtown. I would guess this was a business building at one time.

Near the church, this partially standing stone house remains.

Wellford, as previously mentioned, is expansive and filled with ruins. Farming operations have begun to take over the south side of town, but most of the rest is still intact, yet overgrown. I still strongly recommend visiting this place, because I really enjoyed it, plus it's easily accessible right off of US-54.

Ghost Town of the Week: Week of November 9th, 2014: Croft

As previously mentioned, I have been to over 200 Ghost Towns. A majority of these are not true Ghost Towns, as there is usually at least one occupied house on the site. And of many locales that are true Ghost Towns, many of them have little to nothing left, maybe a foundation or two or an old grain elevator and nothing else. Croft is the very rare exception to both of these rules, and that is why I'm writing about the town today.

The Ghost Town of Croft, viewed from the east

Croft is located in the far southwestern corner of Pratt County, a stone's throw from the Red Hills and in a very isolated location, with no towns of any size for 10 miles. Information online tells me the town had a post office that closed in 1961. I can find no other infomation online about the town. The town is labeled as "Croft Station" in my DeLorme Atlas, and most locales that are labeled "Station" in my Atlas are either nothing or a single grain elevator. Not Croft.

A sign still points to the town from US-54, despite the fact no one lives there (from Google Maps).

I visited Croft in July 2013, the final town in a large road trip that also visited the nearby Semi-Ghost town of Coats (another impressive dying town). As mentioned before, the Ghost Town is isolated: about 10 miles west of Coats and 6 miles south of US-54, on which a sign still points to the town! Coming south towards the town, you can first notice two grain elevators. Both look very old and both are surely abandoned. Just as you enter the north side of town, you see this:

This beat-up building may have just been a shed, but look at the boarded up windows on the side. I think this was a school.

There are just two roads in the town. The one running west from the main county road is appropriately labeled "Croft Road". Taking it, you can get a better view of the looming abandoned grain elevators.

Both abandoned grain elevators sit wasting away and covered in overgrowth. I thought this was really cool.

Croft Road loops around both elevators, then straightens out, going southwest and paralleling... nothing? As with so many Ghost Towns, Croft used to be on a railroad, but the tracks have been pulled up leaving nothing but a dirt track.

Standing on Croft Road, you can see the abandoned weigh station in the center of the photo.

The elevators are impressive enough, but the rest of town deserves a look too! Just off Croft Road in the trees is the skeleton of a wooden building.

I apologize for the blurry quality, but in the center of the photo, in the trees, are the ruins of a wooden building.

And just north of the east grain elevator, on the west side of SW 140th Street, is this large foundation.

Note the "For Sale" sign near the foundation. We'll get to that later.

There are two houses left in Croft. Both are on the east side of SW 140th Street, and both look to be in decent shape. Again, I visited shortly before sunset, but there were no lights on in either house, which of course doesn't mean they were both abandoned, but the house on the south side did look like it had been vacant for at least a couple years. Which left the house on the north. I think the sign on the foundation (which was for an auction) may have related to either the east grain elevator (which was in good condition), the house on the north side, or possibly both. I discussed Croft briefly on Facebook, and a Pratt County local told me that an old man lived in the north house and died recently, which would explain the auction. Which also means that NO ONE LIVES IN CROFT. It is a TRUE Ghost Town. And it is the most complete one I have ever visited.

Barely visible in the trees is this ruin. Not sure if it was a house or a business.

Again, Croft is isolated, but not too hard to find. Someone may live in that north house now, so maybe the town's not a True Ghost Town anymore, but I still strongly recommend it for Ghost Town hunters wanting to see a true Ghost Town.

Ghost Town of the Week: Week of November 2nd, 2014: Clay Center

Before getting into this town, I would like to suggest that anyone who wants to find these obscure ghost towns buy one of these.

This is a Kansas DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer. You can find them for about $20 at most bookstores.

I have been using this Atlas to find all my Ghost Towns in Kansas for 9 years. It lists most locales that are (or were recently) towns. One of these that was recently a town is Clay Center.

No, I'm not talking about the county seat of Clay County and a town of 4,000 people. This Clay Center is in the southeastern corner of Butler County, and aptly is in the center of Clay Township. Nearby the ghost town, my DeLorme Atlas also lists three locations called Pine Grove, Ophir and Wingate. Nothing appears to be left of any of these locales and it looks like they were all former oil towns that were company owned and temporary, which would explain why there's nothing left.

DISCLAIMER: I visited Clay Center in 2006, so some of this may have changed since then
Little is left of Clay Center, but one thing that immediately caught my eye was a spectacular abandoned service station on the northwest corner of the intersection of Cole Creek Road and SE 210th Street. Clay Center lies along a somewhat major county road that connects Leon with Atlanta and Burden (Cole Creek Road), as well as another one that connects Douglass with Latham (SE 210th Street), so perhaps a service station was needed back in the earlier days of automobiles in the locale.

The gas pumps are completely gone and the doors and windows have all been boarded up (with tin!) but some of the lamps are still there and the service station side, with two garages, is in better condition. I would still guess that the station has been abandoned for at least 20 years.

About 200 feet south of the intersection along Cole Creek Road is this one-room school. The school is still in good condition, but I can't imagine it's still used.

Behind the school you can still see two brick outhouses. Online research has told me that the school was used in 1945, but I have found no other information on the school. I also can't find any information on a post office that may have ran in this town. This leads me to believe that perhaps the town never was much more than the school, the service station, and maybe a handful of residents who worked in either building. There still are two occupied houses in the town, as well as a large empty lot across from the service station.