The Lost Towns of Finney County

A majority of the pioneers who came into this region were ambitious to have a part in the building of a town. In this day the big dream of the farmer is of possible oil discoveries on his holdings, but in the early days of settlement the dream of the land owners was of a city, preferably a county seat, being located on his quarter section. History proves that some of them realized this ambition to the extent of a townsite, but in most cases they were disappointed in seeing a flourishing city develop. Many speculators came into the country and took up land with no other thought than to sell it off in town lots.

Finney county has had its share of mushroom towns, which appeared for a brief time but are now only a memory. A few evidences of some of those towns still remain upon the prairie, but the ruins are slowly decaying. Others experienced a sudden end and were hauled away to build up a more successful rival. Some of them still hold a place on the map, but no longer have a post office, and all that is left is a school house or gasoline station. Many sites of the boom towns have been plowed under and lay buried beneath a field of wheat or other crops.

• Buffalo Center
• Essex
• Whitson and Hatfield
• Pattenville-Pansy-Loyal
• Terryton
• Mason-Cowland-Ravanna
  

Note: Text taken from "Conquest of Southwest Kansas" by Leola Howard Blanchard, which can be ordered through the Finney County Historical Museum.