White Rock is a
ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
in
Republic County, Kansas
Republic County is a county located in the state of Kansas, south from the Nebraska state line. Its county seat and largest city is Belleville. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 4,674. The county was named after the Repub ...
, United States.
It is located north of
Courtland.
History
Several attempts were made to settle the area,
but it was only in 1866 that
Thomas Lovewell settled the town permanently. White Rock was formally laid out in 1871
and school began to be taught that same year.
It was considered a desirable location because of its land qualities.
The town was located on the west side of the
Republican River
The Republican River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, rising in the High Plains of eastern Colorado and flowing east U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map acce ...
in the White Rock township, approximately 14 miles northwest of
Belleville. It was the first settlement in the county west of the Republican River. In 1873 there were three general stores, a sawmill, a corn mill and a hotel.
In 1878, Republic County voters had the chance to approve $130,000 worth of bonds for the Kansas Pacific railway company to build a railroad line that would have extended from Clifton to the then-thriving towns of Seapo, Belleville and White Rock. County voters defeated the bond issue 1,126 to 850. In White Rock township, only two people voted in favor and 95 against. The last residents of White Rock related that city leaders believed their town was so prosperous that the railroad would build through their town whether or not they approved the bonds to help fund the connection.
As of 1912, there were no businesses and only about 30 people who resided in the location.
See also
*
List of ghost towns in Kansas
This is an incomplete list of ghost towns in the state of Kansas.
Causes
Many reasons exist as to why a community becomes abandoned (or nearly so).
*Transportation: With the development of major highways and interstates, people were willing ...
References
Further reading
External links
* Republic County maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT
{{coord, 39, 53, 10, N, 97, 55, 56, W, type:city_region:US-KS_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title
Former populated places in Republic County, Kansas
Former populated places in Kansas