Angelus is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Sheridan County, Kansas
Sheridan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat is Hoxie. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,447. The county was named in honor of Philip Sheridan, a Union general during the Civil War.
His ...
, United States.
It is located in
Solomon Township, approximately 20 miles southwest of
Hoxie. Also, it is located northwest of
Grinnell and
Interstate 70
Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15, I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to Interstate 695 (Maryland), I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, Baltimo ...
.
History
A
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
was opened in Angelus in 1894, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1911.
As of 1910, the community had a population of 30 and was a local trading center, with the nearest train stations in either
Grinnell or Campus to the south in
Gove County
Gove County is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat is Gove City, and its most populous city is Quinter. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,718. The county was named for Granville Gove, a captain of Compa ...
.
[Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History](_blank)
p. 77 (1912)
According to a history prepared by Fr. Menig of the Angelus parish church in 1937, the community was founded by residents of
Saint Bernard, Nebraska
Saint Bernard is an unincorporated community in Platte County, Nebraska
Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to ...
who were looking for less expensive, though still good, land for farming. The first settlers arrived in late 1887. St. Paul's church was founded at that time, and had 49 members by 1888. The community was named Angelus in 1892 by Rev. J. Disselkamp, the pastor of the church in
Colby, Kansas
Colby is a city in and the county seat of Thomas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 5,570.
History
In 1882, a post office was established near the center of Thomas County. Area homesteaders ...
which serviced the area. The church grew to 92 families and 588 members by 1937, and the community's Catholic school run by the Sisters of the Precious Blood had 80 students.
[(5 August 1937)]
Angelus Community to Hold Golden Jubilee Celebration
''Grinnell Record-Leader'' A 1987 story on the community's 100th anniversary noted that "Angelus never really became a town, but was merely a community that grew up around its church." By that time, the community's earlier two grocery stores, three garages/gas stations, and all other businesses, had closed, leaving only the church, school, and a few homes.
[(26 August 1987)]
100 years of love and worship
''Grinnel Town & Country''
Though there are not current formal population measures of Angelus,
Solomon Township had a population of 179 in the 2010 census.
References
Further reading
External links
Angelus - Official Website
Unincorporated communities in Sheridan County, Kansas
Unincorporated communities in Kansas
{{SheridanCountyKS-geo-stub