Plum Grove, Kansas

Plum Grove is a ghost town in Butler County, Kansas, United States. It was located in a rural area north of modern-day Potwin. No buildings remain at this former community site.

Plum Grove, Kansas
Ghost town
KDOT map of Butler County (legend)
Plum Grove
Plum Grove
Coordinates: 37°59′6″N 97°2′31″W
CountryUnited States
StateKansas
CountyButler
TownshipPlum Grove and Milton
Named forPlum bushes
Population
 • Total0
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code620
W i k i p e d i a

History

A post office named Plum Grove was established on July 1, 1870 in northwest Butler County, Kansas.[1] The postmaster (and landowner) was John R. Wentworth[2] and the post office was named for the established plum bushes near his homestead. This post office was located next to the East Branch of the Whitewater River near the modern day intersection of NW 110th Street and NW Buffalo Road. Over the next 2 years, some businesses were started at Plum Grove.[3]

On October 7, 1872 a county election passed funding bonds for a proposed railroad through the Whitewater River valley. The route was close to Plum Grove, so it was decided to move the tiny community 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west to ensure it would be next to the future railroad. Unfortunately, the financial panic of 1873 caused the rail project to be abandoned. Though it was a setback, the community continued to grow while it kept trying to get a rail depot.[4] At its peak, Plum Grove had a maximum population of 60 or 100 (depending on source), several general stores, drug store, tree nursery, boarding house, blacksmith shop / livery barn / hog pens, saw mill, and a community water well.[5][3]

In the spring of 1885, the McPherson branch of the Missouri Pacific Railroad was built east/west a few miles south of Plum Grove.[5] Again a railroad failed to route through Plum Grove, then the community started to dissolve. Merchants, houses, people moved over time to one of the nearby new communities of Brainerd or Potwin,[6] and a small number to Whitewater and Peabody. In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway was built north/south about 5 miles west of Plum Grove,[7] and it was the "final straw". The post office closed on October 31, 1888[1] and most lots were vacated by 1889.[3]

Afterward, the rural school was the only thing that remained. A new school was rebuilt at the site in 1895 and it served until 1955 when it was discontinued and the building was moved. The school water well was filled in the late 1960s, thus erasing the last evidence of Plum Grove.[3] Today, it is active farmland.

Geography

Plum Grove was located at the modern day intersection of NW 110th Street and NW Santa Fe Lake Road in northwest Butler County, Kansas, which is 3 miles north and 1 mile west of modern-day Potwin. It sits on the shared township boundary of Plum Grove and Milton.

Education

The modern day rural area around Plum Grove is served by the Remington USD 206 public school district, and the rural Frederic Remington High School is about 4 miles south of the former Plum Grove.

Notable people
  • Daniel McCurdy Elder (1844-1923),[8] 1889 Kansas House of Representative,[9] saw mill owner/operator (Plum Grove and other sites along Whitewater River), stone quarry owner (east of El Dorado).[5]
  • Frederic Sackrider Remington (1861-1909), American Old West artist, sheep rancher. In 1883 to 1884, he owned a ranch north of Plum Grove. The south edge of it was located 2 miles north then 0.5 to 1.5 miles west. Initially his ranch started as 160 acres then later expanded to 320 acres. Many text describe the location of his ranch near Peabody, because it was the closest railroad depot during that era. He spent free time in both communities. A monument dedicated to Remington is located at the nearby Frederic Remington High School.[10]
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See also

Other communities with same name in Kansas:

  • Plum Grove in Atchison County, where a post office existed from October 3, 1862 to January 6, 1868, then it was moved to the community of Oak Mills.
  • Plum Grove in Jefferson County, a colony that exist from 1854 to 1855.

References
  1. Plum Grove; Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961; Kansas Historical Society.
  2. John R. Wentworth at Find a Grave
  3. Plum Grove, Kansas: The Rise and Demise; Jerrol Kim Claassen; Kansas State University; 1982.
  4. Railroad Meeting at Plum Grove; The Peabody Gazette; Page 3 of February 11, 1876.
  5. Plum Grove, Brainerd, Whitewater, and Potwin from 1870 to 1900; Roland H. Ensz; Emporia State University; 1970.
  6. New town of Brainerd and Potwin; The Peabody Gazette; Page 4 of June 11, 1885.
  7. "Rock Island Rail History". Archived from the original on 2011-06-19. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  8. Daniel McCurdy Elder at Find a Grave
  9. Kansas Legislators: Past and Present; Kansas State Library
  10. Remington Rock monument; Frederic Remington High School.

Further reading
See also: List of books about Butler County, Kansas
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