14 Kansas Ghost Towns // Greenwood County Part 1 

The farm at Lapland is actually my family home. Our house was part of the grocery store and the post office. The Olson grocery store used to sit on the northeast corner about where you were standing in all the trees. It only fell in the last 5-10 years. So technically there is still part of Lapland still standing. The Lapland school sits a 2 1/2 miles south. It used to house the Salem Fire trucks before the new fire station was built at the Holverson School House. My mother's whole family is from the Lapland/Teterville area.

I grew up in Hamilton. My parents graduated from Virgil... A couple of my uncles went to Quincy school before graduating in Virgil. The Virgil hotel was open at least into the late 1980s - my family would occasionally eat BBQ there (they had a sign and were 'famous' for the weird toilet - you couldn't sit straight up - it was under some stairs). I'm so sad to see my home county dwindling away - but me and many others had to move away for work.

I lived in Burkett from 1956 - 1959. It was an oil camp of Phillips Petroleum Co where my dad worked. There used to be a little mom & pop grocery store on the corner where you made a right turn, coming from Eureka. My mom was born in Teterville and I was born in Eureka. Brought back some old memories. Thank you.

You do Kansas proud. Love to see you cover Beaumont and cover the fly inn. You're a natural teacher.

Dude, i became obsessed with your channel and your content, currently watching the KS playlist, waiting for the next one with great excitement! I also love the fact that, even though some times there is literally nothing to show, you do take the time to drone over the area! Amazing job! 😎🎉

I'm glad the old Thrall building is still seeing use after all of these years. A place for cattle, better than nothing. As long as it's still being used, it and the history will stay standing

You are a master of understatement and a master of editing.

That building behind your car is the old Pepsi warehouse I used to haul product to in the 70's.

I’ve lived in SE Kansas for 18 years, and that big church in Lamont is my church. I probably know half the residents of that town (there are about 30 left), and knew several of the folks buried at the Lena Valley Cemetery. It always amazes me to think there used to be thousands of people living in that area when the oil boom was underway. I also know a wonderful lady who still lives in Virgil. SE Kansas and the Flint Hills is really a very lovely area. Thank you for a great video.

That picture of the vulture sitting on the old church in Quincy.. lucky shot indeed

I love ghost towns and old buildings

I attended grade school and went to church in unincorporated Clonmel Kansas.

That hotel in Virgil actually burnt around eight years ago. The red brick building in the corner was Burrito Bills when it was still open until Bill died around 12 or so years ago.

I’m from Neal, KS. I lived there for almost all of my life. My parents still currently live there in my great grandparents home. It’s a very small town with a lot of land surrounding it. Thanks for showing our small corner of greenwood county!

Used to live in Emporia in Lyon County, just N of Greenwood Co. Have travelled many of the same roads you are. Am originally from Indiana and was intrigued to learn that much of southern Lyon Co. was settled by Hoosiers. (There is a Hoosier Creek.) But most got homesick and moved back.

I had a friend whose family had a piece of property outside of Eureka. On this property we're several old foundations and an old lime stone road which I was told was an old highway that went to Kansas City. It also had a collapsed stone bridge over a natural spring creek. It was quite a beautiful piece of property!

I’m from Eureka, and this is so cool to see! I love seeing that other people can find something good about South East Kansas!

your videos are just as relaxing to watch as Aerial America

I'm from eureka. N know all the places very well. Fished at Rocky ford my whole life. I love it. Thank u for the great memories. Wow so awesome

Great video, brings back a lot of memories. My family ran a cattle ranch up the road from the Rocky Ford in the 70’s. We used to have trail rides with all the local ranchers and would end the long day camping at the ford. It was popular swimming/fishing hole as well. To my knowledge there never was a town there, the name is what it implies, a rocky low water river crossing (ford). My dad was buried at the Rocky Ford cemetery in 1980 and recently my aunt passed April 2022 and her wish was to be buried next to her brother. The church told us according to records, prior to her, he was the last person buried there. I don’t make it back to Kansas often, but when I do, I always visit that lonely old overgrown cemetery. If you ever see a ghost there tell em' I said hi! 🙂

The church was really neat. I always love the cemeteries. They can tell ya some stories. Great job going through these towns.

I love how u highlight the map so we can have a visual of where you're going. Excellent drone footage. Thank u

You always do a great job. Your videos are always interesting. Have you ever done a video on Bazaar Kansas? I love the Flint Hills. Thanks for sharing.

My great uncle farmed the land around Rocky Ford for many years. We camped on those flat rocks many times. He passed several years ago but I still have a lot of family in Greenwood County. Thank you so much for sharing! It was really neat to see the place again - so many good memories there.

Mmm y favorite state I was born in Garden City and raised in Chanute Kansas. Family members from Dodge City, Coldwater, Colby, Gustine, Saline, Derby, I can’t think of all of the other places it’s on the tip of my tongue but I know the majority are really small old towns I’m so excited that you’re taking a tour and telling and showing history of the old towns. I hope that you keep sharing more and more.

My Grandfather worked in Burkett, he worked on the Pump Jack's and would keep them running for the oil company, I remember the days when he would let us go with him to work. We thought it was the best thing in the world, you drove right by where he used to work. Virgil our family used to buy whole cows milk back when it was legal. I was also born in Eureka at Greenwood County Hospital.. man your videos tugs hard at my hometown heart string feelers.

I love ur back ground music I feel I lived in each town u been visited even though I'm frm Asian country.i've Watched all episode of ur video.and waiting for another episode.im residing here in Canada. I can't w8t for the next episode.👍

Love the places you visit. Love the stories of the people that lived in the towns and ghost towns that you go to. Thank you so much for taking us along. Stay safe and GOD bless

another grrrrreat video (as usual). THANK YOU for all the work and then sharing.

drove through greenwood co. on way to witchita once.. wish i'd had more time to explore ks. so much interesting stuff out there!

My dad owned Burkett from the mid-60s to the late 90s. If you go west of Teter Rock, off to the south are several former oil field "towns". Dad was born at home in one of them. He was the only one of 5 they called a doctor to deliver! Let me see if my aunt can check in...

In Neal when you first pull in my uncles helped build the church that was there and the community building used to be the old grade school. A little farther down the road you get to my family’s cattle company then on the other side is the cemetery where most of my family is buried

Love the map work in the opening.

love the drone work

I grew up in Greenwood County and I still have family that live in Greenwood County. My family lived in some of the non-existent towns you went to. I hope you went to the Greenwood County Historical Museum in Eureka, Ks. I am sure they have information on all the towns you visited. This make me sad about my Home County and I often go home to visit there. If I could I would move back to Greenwood County or as my family calls it "God's Country."

So very well done. Thank you!

When you said "foilage" that reminded me of an episode of The Simpsons when the family went out to look at the fall leaves and Marge could not say "Foliage" she always said "foilage." Lisa would criticize and try to get her to say the right thing but Marge would respond with "That's what I said, foilage" 😆

My hometown Hamilton, Ks not booming but still thriving.

I grew up in California but lived in Colorado, Missouri and traveled around the Midwest. The open expanse was just wild to see in person. Our smallest towns in California are still like 250+ people that are mostly within a short drive of a bigger city so we don’t see a lot of this unless you go into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. But I definitely miss living in MO. Way slower and laid back style of living compared to the west coast.

I grew up in Greenwood County from 1951 until 1968/73 from time I was 7 months old until I joined Navy after graduate school. My great-grandfather William was one of the later settlers to Quincy Toronto (across county line in Woodson county.) in the late 1880s bringing a herd of polled Herefords he and his brother Amos had brought from Wales on the Hereford, England border area. Amos went back to England as he said winters on the Kansas Prairie was not fit for man nor beast. When the Toronto Dam was put in we lost our farm to the flood basin of the reservoir. If you look south crossing the Verdigris river bridge on US54 you would have seen a large 2 story farm house with glazed tile barn & silo and several out buildings including 2 smaller houses for families hired farm workers that my Great-Grandfather & Grandfather built. My father, his brother and their sister were all born their. (I was adopted so only came to live there when I was 7 months old). The great 1951 flood came up to the house and flooded almost all the outbuildings and tenants houses. The house was built on a foundation that was about 2 ft high and the water washed up on the porch but did not come in house. Both tennant hired hands and their families and my family were in the house with most movable things and some of tenants furniture & clothing stored on 2nd floor in the 4 bedrooms an a storage room and hallways up there. You are correct about the bank robbery in Virgil. Also during that time the whole area was a great place for bootleggers. They would move with the drilling rigs and their product was often hidden inside sealed barrels welded inside an oiffield tank truck that was used to move oil from storage tanks in the fields to either railhead oil tanker car or to pipeline. Also the church pictured in Quincy was the Methodist Church. In 1955-60 Quincy still had a small grocery store, a couple of businesses including a popcorn popper manufacturing facility of a relatively well know brand of popper (it still is sold today, but factory moved elsewhere), There was a gas station and the school held classes until around 1962 or 63. In 1959 my family moved to Lena Valley. That cemetery you showed was part of a 5 acre plot taken out of the pasture we raised our cattle with a field to the south. Just south of the cemetery was Lena Valley Methodist Church that had services until the early 1960s. A good friend of mine was married in the church and still lives about 1 mile east and little south of where it stood. She was the last person married there and that was about the last type of service conducted there as it had become a community center more than a church by time of her marriage in 1965/6. A mile south of Lena Valley church on the road to Lamont would have been the Lena Valley School. It was a one room school serving the children of the neighborhood for a school within walking distance of the farms. It was about 200 yards from our house and in another one of our pastures next to our largest corn field. If you know where to look you can find the foundation and the old cemented over well that was used by the school and children. Last classes were held in the school in 1951 or 1952. The building was then used for hay storage until sometime in the 1970s when torn down. In your pictures of Lamont, Virgil and other towns you show the old brick bank buildings. You could always tell them by the cut-off corner where the door was located. As to the railroads, Lamont was on a spur of the Missouri Pacific and the station was call Wilbur Station. The railroad that went by/thru Hilltop, Virgil, Quincy and on to Toronto and a couple of towns south was a ATSF (Santa Fe) spur coming out of Madison from Emporia in Lyon county to the north. Just a short distance south of Madison that Santa Fe line split to go to the towns I mentioned and the west line went on to Hamilton, Tonavy, Eureka and then south thru Severy and Howard to Moline. The eastern Moline Spur was still being uses until the early to mid 1970s. Eastern spur thru Virgil and Quincy had been abandoned before WWII. Teterville while nothing remains but the rock was a thriving community oil production company town. It had numerous houses and even a one room school building along with post office. The school served not only the towns children and was mostly supported by the oil company but also children of ranchers. I have a couple of friends who attended the Teterville school until its closing after the 1956/7 school year. It is amazing that a town can be completely wipped off the map in less than 50 years. Hilltop was never anything more than a station to load cattle for shipment to market and a Gas Station. It may have had a combination general store/postoffice. One has to remember more schools and post offices were required prior to common use of the automobile and trucks. as were schools. There were no school buses in most areas until after WWII and sometimes not until 1950. Small post offices were common scattered in many small settlements a it was much better that the old "Post Oak" for a settlement of several ranchers and farmers in an area. A Post Oak was a prominent old oak tree (or in some places in Kansas a Cottonwood) where the people of community/settlement put up a sturdy, water proof box for mail. Anyone going several miles by horse or mule (even foot in some cases) would stop by the post oak and pickup any outgoing letters. While in town he would deposit the letters at Post Office and pick up the mail for any members of his community around his "post oak" and put them in the box when he returned for people to come check their mail every week or so. Now Neal - My grandfather and Greatgrandfather owned a couple of sections of pasture land on the prairie east of Neal. My Great Aunt married a man named Roscoe Boone who was one of the settlers of Neal. Now Roscoe was a direct linear descendent of Squire Boone who with his older brother a fellow named Daniel founded the town of Boonesborough in Kentucky. Some of you may have heard of him. BTW - I cannot find the part II with the other towns in Greenwood County. Also, liked your Route 66 as I have driven many miles on it in the 3 miles or so in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona & California. You can still drive on part of the original Route 66 in California at Amboy & east of Amboy. I used to frequently take that section when traveling to LasVegas from Twentynine Palms Ca in the 1990's and early 2000's. Thank you for your video I recognize many of the places, even drove over that old bridge in last shot when it would actually hold up a pickup loaded with grain or a 1.5t to 2.5 t truck loaded with a few cattle on way to pasture or to market.

My great great grand father is buried in Elk City KS Cemetery. I'm pretty sure the old town has been reclaimed by nature. It's just south of Greenwood county.

When we got married 3/1985 we went to a dance at the old hotel in Virgil. We lived in Quincy Kansas. You talked about Hilltop that is where the Sherriff of Greenwood County was shot and killed by Scott. Quincy we lived there from 1985 through 1988. They had a Popcorn popper factory that was there. The name was Atom Pop popcorn popper. Quincraft products. Started in 1948 if I remember my history right. Used and old military spin mill. They moved I believe three times and now Quincraft is at Bushton Kansas now.

This was a fun tour -- thanks so much for doing this. I live in Madison, so compared to some of the places you covered, this is practically a metropolis. :)

I've been to Quincy a few times in the late 80's, and early 90's. My ex's grand parents lived there.

Like that last old wooden bridge! Cool!

I had many a lunch at the Burkett store while hauling hay in the mid 60s.

thanks for sharing these long forgotten ghost towns;

Enjoyed watching very interesting.

Beautiful prairie! Thank you!

My great-great grandfather, Harrison Jackson Willis, was one of the first county supervisors of Greenwood County. The first meeting of the Greenwood County Commissioners took place in Janesville on March 14, 1862. The election of November 1862 put Harrison into the position of county commissioner by popular vote of the people. He remained as a commissioner at least until 1867, when the county seat was changed from Janesville to Eureka, where all meetings were held thereafter.

😁"Super creepy" Was echoing your sentiments while you walked through the tunnel. Another great video, thank you!

Dad said he was 7 or 8 when a plane landed on Teter Hill. It was WWII. Can you imagine?

My aunt and uncle were married in that church in Neal. My aunts mother used to run the restaurant shown at the end of the Neal segment. After living and working in Wichita for over forty years my aunt and uncle retired back to Neal where my Uncle Marion still lives. Sadly my Aunt Joyce passed away about a year ago.

I watch the videos half for its awesome content and half for the great T-shirts you wear.

Good to hear from you! I did not know we had any open range in Kansas. Have a good day!!!!!!!

Close to the elevator in Lamont, the old train depot is still in some trees. Comments on Rocky Ford are below. Watching for more from you!

Great video. Traveling down country roads. Amazed oil in the area's . History of these towns a variety. The old church structure was still beautiful. Area's country side view of farmland can't be overlooked and great drone views. Great video John .😊

A Ford is a place on a stream that is shallow enough to cross

Loved this one. My backyard. We have a place a few miles from Teeter, West of "Holverson Community Center". Beautiful country. Built a Log "Cabin" on Otter Creek, Just West of Climax years back. (You should visit Climax; an old RR town inhabited by a few die hard Hippies.) I was married in the old school house a lifetime ago. ( : Keep up the good work!

I lived in Wichita for almost 20 years, southeast Kansas is beautiful in a lot of areas. I especially like the Sedan, Kansas area.

I've been to the Thrall townsite. My wife's paternal grandparents resided there for a time during it's second "boom." Her grandfather was employed by Sinclair Oil (recall the service station signs with the dinosaur).

So I grew up in Eureka with my grandparents who were born both in 1922 and my grandad Kink (Clearance) Burch told me that when he was in highschool they played football against Teeterville. I asked what happened and he said people just stopped living there. That's the only answer he ever gave me.

Love that old church building in Quincy

Awesome video! My mother was born in Lamont, in a little tiny house, rght on the hwy there. It's no longer there. I have a picture of it somewhere, in it's last years. Love what you do!

I live in Eureka, and my family still lives there

Looks like that building at Thrall could have been a compressor station. Especially since it right by a pipeline;one.

Love your video. I was on the Hiawatha police department 1978. I was from out west. Culture totally different.Easy pace.

My folks grew up in Virgil a long many other people I'm related to and I spent a lot of time there growing up. I heard the hotel burnt down after a cult moved in. With the focus on Post offices I can't believe you didn't show the post office in a trailer there. When you mention Hilltop the story of the shootout with a drug dealer comes to mind where the Sheriff got shot and died.

Fun fact: Quincy was home to the Atomic Popcorn Popper factory

Another great video ! Thanx for taking the time to research these places and give us some history of what went on here and when...

Very interesting and fun to watch. Come a little farther east into Wilson County. We have a lot of ghost towns. A couple little towns close to where I live Morehead and gas central. I've looked both up and found some interesting info on Morehead, but nothing on gas central. A lot of other locations though. Thank you again.

good content, I lived in Missouri, I like Kansas and midwest counties.

You are brave to walk across that bridge. Lots of room left in Kansas

In the 70's as a kid, we used to go to "camp Virgil" every year. It was a church camp. It was located at an old school which had a swimming pool. They've since torn it down.

I haven't seen Seligman MO. since 1968. At that time there may have been 30 people there. I can't remember what hiway but in between Gateway AR and Cassville MO.

Looks like caliche road gravel there at Kenbro! I worked on soil with Caliche trying to dig a trench to lay pipe it was bad! Miss scenery though like most who left the rural areas better be close to better healthcare, shopping and services when you retire! Never got the chance to fish by Chetopa!

I live on the back side of Neal, Kansas. Many of my husband's family live around here. We all like to have birthdays and family get-togethers at Rocky Ford. It's a neat place to go to. I drove our car over that road the other day and about bottomed out! Lol! I learned a lot about the town from a sweet old lady that was born right there at rocky Ford. Grew up and graduated in Neal. She's probably the one they were talking about that got married.

I don't always approve of drone use but, the aerial footage is very good. Nice job.

Wow, lots of ghost towns. Haaallloooweeeen BOO!

I don't know about you but I would be terrified to drive down some of them back roads I spent the first eighteen years of my life in Northwest Indiana and some of them back roads was always fun to drive

There is a Rocky Ford in Colorado. You are dedicated and adventurous. I think I would have been scared to take that "road" to the cemetery

17:15 that's Missouri Pacific RR's standard design for a concrete culvert. Rocky Ford was on their "Wichita subdivision" which ran from Durand to Wichita, KS which lasted into the early 90's (El Dorado-Wichita is still in use). The other rail line in the county was Santa Fe's Howard district which ran From Emporia to Moline (built as the Kansas City, Emporia, and Southern Ry in 1879, purchased by ATSF in 1901, and abandoned in 1975), with another line that branched off south of Madison (Madison Jct) and went to Virgil, Toronto, and on to Benedict Jct (SW of Benedict) where it connected to another Santa Fe line. Benedict-Virgil was abandoned in 1944 and Virgil-Madison in 1963.

My mom and her family is originally from Lamont, KS, the first town mentioned. They left in the late 50s/early 60s.

My impressions, based upon your comments and various online photos, was that these places never had many people. And even in their day, weren't that much different from the remnants that exist today. Which means that poverty and meager living was the norm back then. Not really very inviting or nostalgic... in that sense.😢. But still very interesting to consider. Gord

Really dig your videos and the research you do. What about a neosho or labette counties? Keep up the awesome work

I’ve been to Eureka Kansas twice once in the spring and once in the fall all total I spent about a month after I found the people very friendly very safe town kind of remind me of something you’d see in a Norman Rockwell well painting the kids played out till 6 o’clock went home ate dinner and then came back after dinner rode their bicycles all around town a very safe nice place to be really enjoyed my two visits there

I live in Greenwood county

Vary interesting video didn't know of these old towns. In Cottonwood Falls KS. in Chase County the old courthouse was built of limestone I think because getting up close to the building there is a lot of shell fossils in bedded in the rock.

You should check out Alamota Kansas. It is no longer found on the map. This is located 10 minutes west of Dighton Kansas. (Western Kansas). Still has the elementary school, post office, bakery, and the bank building standing. No longer in use. There are some farms out there but I know it has a super low population.

A NEAT LITTLE EXTRA AT THE END IS THE MERRY GO ROUND YOU WERE RIDING!! WHEN I WAS A KID THEY WERE COMMON ON SCHOOL GROUNDS! THEY BECAME LESS POPULAR OVER THE YEARS, DUE TO LIABILITY PROBLEMS! THIS WAS DUE TO KIDS CLIMBING IN THE MIDDLE, REACHING UP TO THE HORIZONTAL SPOKES, AND PUSHING AROUND THE CENTER!! YOU COULD GET SOME REAL SPEED OUT OF THEM!

Mom (Lois Blackburn Wilson) grew up on the Kenbro Lease.

There’s a road around teterville somewhere (it’s been 30 years since I was there) they call Teterville hill, apparently from what I was told before fuel injection you would have to drive up the hill backwards or you’d basically run out of gas because it was so steep.

My mom's side of family is from Severy, Kansas in Greenwood county.

Fantastic, Wiseguy! Will there be a Kansas Ghost Towns // Greenwood County Part 2?

Bet the guy in Neal you spoke with was Virgil Ward.

I always say when I see some of this empty land..miles of it..someone owns it!

Please go to Nicodemus ks!!! The history is just fascinating, people are just lovely, and its a true gem!!!

Me gusta tu camiseta jajaja, soy de ESPAÑA. Enhorabuena por tus videos me gustan

Flint hills are a great place to get 2 flats

I was going to suggest talking with the locals to get a perspective of the history there. You should include those conversations.