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.