Places - Allen KSGenWeb

2010 Kansas Dept. of Transportation

Populated Places

Allendale, a little hamlet of Allen county, is situated about 5 or 6 miles northeast of Iola, the county seat, from which place it receives mail by rural delivery. It is about equally distant from Carlyle on the Santa Fe and La Harpe on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroads, which places are the nearest railway stations. --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume I, page 64.

Bassett, a small village of Allen county, is situated about 2 miles south of Iola, the county seat, with which place it is connected by electric railway. In 1910 it reported a population of 40. --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume I, page 156.

Bayard, one of the minor villages of Allen county, is a station on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. in the northeast part of the county, some 15 miles from Iola, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice with one rural route, an express office, some mercantile interests, and is a shipping point for the surrounding agricultural district. The population in 1910 was reported as 50. --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume I, page 162.

Carlyle, one of the principal villages of Allen county, is located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 5 miles north of Iola, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice with one rural delivery route, telegraph station and express offices, a good village school, some mercantile and shipping interests, and in 1910 reported a population of 200. --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume I, page 288.

Elsmore, an incorporated town of Allen county, is a station on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. in the southeastern part of the county, some 15 miles southeast of Iola, the county seat. The old town of Elsmore, which for several years was the center of attraction for the citizens of Elsmore township, was located farther west, not far from Big creek. On Aug. 25, 1888, after the route of the railroad from Kansas City to Parsons had been definitely settled, N. L. Ard, J. L. Roberts, J. A. Nicholson, W. D. and H. W. Cox, and O. P. Mattson, purchased 20 acres where the present town of Elsmore stands and platted the town. It soon became a popular trading center and shipping point for that section of the county, and in 1909 was incorporated. In 1910 it reported a population of 216. Elsmore has a money order postoffice with two rural delivery routes, a bank, several good stores, some small manufacturing enterprises, telegraph and express facilities, good schools, etc. --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume I, pages 584-585.

Funston, a small hamlet a little southeast of the center of Allen county, is about 10 miles from Iola, the county seat, and some 8 miles from Humboldt, from which place it receives mail by rural delivery. Elsmore is the most convenient railroad station. --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume I, page 702.

Geneva, a post-village of Allen county, is a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad in the northwest corner of the county, about 10 miles from Iola, the county seat. It has an express office, a money order postoffice with one rural route, and is a trading center and shipping point for that section of the county. The population in 1910 was 100. --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume I, pages 728-729.

Humboldt, one of the principal cities of Allen county, is on the line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad, 8 miles south of Iola, the county seat. The place was first visited by B. M. Blanton, a Methodist missionary, who told his brother, N. B. Blanton, and J. A. Coffey, of Lawrence, of the advantages of the location for a town. In March, 1857, the town site was located by Mr. Coffey, who returned to Lawrence, where he found some German colonists looking for a location and induced them to settle in his new town, which was named for Baron von Humboldt. In the spring of 1870 the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad was completed through that portion of Allen county, and the following October the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston was run through Humboldt. Since then the growth of the city has been steady, until at the present time Humboldt is one of the busiest cities of its size in the state. It was organized as a village in 1866 and incorporated as a city of the second class by the act of Feb. 28, 1870. Being located in the gas and oil fields, it is a good manufacturing center. It has large cement and brick works, an oil refinery, flour mills, elevators, two banks, express and telegraph offices, and the press is well represented. The city is supplied with waterworks and electric lights, and in 1910 reported a population of 2,548. --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume I, pages 879-880.

Iola, the seat of justice and largest city of Allen county, is situated a little northwest of the center of the county, at the junction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, and the Missouri Pacific railways. Duncan's History of Allen County says that a meeting was held in Jan., 1859, at the residence of J. C. Clark, near the mouth of Deer creek, to locate a new town with a view to making it the county seat. A town company was organized with John W. Scott, president; John Hamilton, vice-president; J. M. Perkins, secretary; and James McDonald, treasurer. The town was named for Mrs. Iola Colborn, the wife of J. F. Colborn, who erected the first frame house, a log house having been previously put up by Bolivar B. Bayne. In 1860 James Faulkner and Aaron Case removed their stores from the old town of Cofachique to Iola. Little progress was made during the war, but in the few years immediately following the growth was more rapid. In 1866 W. H. Johnson began the publication of the Neosho Valley Register, which was the first newspaper. The first bank was started by the King Bridge company, but when the bridge company went out of business the bank also ceased to exist. L. L. Northrup then started a private bank, which later developed into the present Northrup National bank. The city also has two state banks and a savings bank. Iola is well equipped with paved streets, a good waterworks system, electric lights, a street railway system, a fire department, gas for both heating and illuminating purposes, an opera house, two daily and three weekly newspapers, a public library, five fine graded public schools and a high school, and various religious denominations are represented by handsome houses of worship. Eight large cement factories turn out about 25,000 barrels a day, employing about 3,000 men; the 9 zinc smelters produce about one-third of the world's supply; and a large spelter employs some 1,800 persons. There are also flour mills, brick and tile works, iron works, planing mills, ice factory and cold storage plant, rug factory, bottling works, creamery, broom factory, and a number of smaller manufacturing enterprises. Iola is connected by an electric railway with La Harpe, the line passing through the gas field, with branches to Bassett and Concrete. On Feb. 28, 1870, Iola was incorporated as a city of the second class by an act of the legislature. The population in 1910, according to the U. S. census, was 9,032, and the city was at that time composed of six wards. Four rural delivery routes emanate from the Iola postoffice and supply mail to a large agricultural district and a number of smaller villages. --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume I, pages 939-940.

Leanna, a village in the extreme southern part of Allen county, is about 6 miles southeast of Humboldt, which place is the most convenient railroad station. It has a money order postoffice and is a local trading center for the neighborhood. The population in 1910 was 50.Leanna --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume II, page 120.

Moran, an incorporated city of the third class in Allen county, is located 12 miles east of Iola, at the junction of the Missouri Pacific and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroads. It has an internationl[sic] money order postoffice, from which emanate four rural delivery routes, a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Herald), several good stores, etc. When the Missouri Pacific road was under contemplation the people of Marmaton township voted bonds and the railroad company agreed to establish a station somewhere near the center of the township. It was first known as Moran City, but the first postoffice was called Morantown, the last syllable being dropped in 1900, since which time the place has been called Moran. --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume II, page 311.

Petrolia, a village of Allen county, is located on the Neosho river and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. in the southwestern part of the county, about 13 miles from Iola. It has a money order postoffice, an express office, and is a trading point for the neighborhood. The population in 1910 was 200. --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume II, page 369.

Savonburg, one of the incorporated cities of Allen county, is located in Elsmore township, near the southeast corner of the county, and about 18 miles from Iola, the county seat. It is a station on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R., has a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Record), a large retail trade, good schools, and nearly all the leading fraternal organizations are represented by lodges. The town was founded in 1879, when the postoffice was established with John Keen as postmaster. The present postoffice does a money order business and has two rural routes starting from it. The population in 1910 was 257. In 1889 the Savonburg Improvement company was chartered and did so well in building up the town that it was incorporated in 1902. --Extracted 2002 by Carolyn Ward from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, volume II, page 652.