Earleton Kansas.

Neosho County

Canville township map, 1906.

http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/209429/page/7

 

On the county map Earleton can be found in Township 28-south and Range 18-east.  On the township map Earleton can be found in sections 19 & 20, 29 & 30.

 

Earleton Post Office.

 

Open July 3, 1871 and ran to October 1, 1950, name was changed to Earlton, who's post office open October 1, 1950 and ran to July 3, 1976.  First postmaster was J. C. Lantz.

 

Earleton Kansas, 1883.

 

Earleton is a small town situated in the western part of Neosho County, on the Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Kansas Railroad. it is about seven miles south of Chanute, and about the same distance north of Thayer. The land upon which the town is located was the property of the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Gulf Railroad Company (now the K. D., L. & S. K. R. R. Co). The town was started in the interest of the company by J. C. Lantz, and comprised an area of fifty acres. Directly after the site became fixed Lantz erected a store room and commenced business, dealing in groceries. The station house, for the accommodation of the railroad employees, was built in 1870. But little toward the building of the town was done until 1876, when the title to the lands in this section was quieted, and the country began to be settled.

In 1877 H. L. Freeman bought Lantz's store, enlarging the room and continuing the business. Brown, Brothers began in the grocery business in 1878, and sold in September, 1881, to N. F. Pattee. J. S. Cunningham erected a residence in 1870, and J. C. Freeman built one in 1877. In the following year J. C. Robinson erected a shop and began blacksmithing, and during this year H. A. Brown built a residence and the depot building was erected. For about two years there was a lull in the improvement of the town, after which its growth was renewed. In the fall of 1880 H. L. Freeman erected a residence and in the spring of the next year A. B. Yoder also built a residence. The Evangelical Church was built in 1882. It is a neat frame structure of plain architecture. S. A. Brown & co. started a lumber yard in 1882. During this year there were seven buildings erected in the town, among which was the parsonage belonging to the Evangelical Church.

The cemetery was started in December, 1880, and was incorporated in June, 1881. The grounds comprise three and one-half acres, regularly laid off. About 100 lots have already been disposed of. The postoffice was established at this point in 1870, with J. C. Lantz as Postmaster. In 1877 he was succeeded by H. L. Freeman, who has since held the office.

The educational facilities are such as are afforded by the district in which it is included. The first school was taught in the district in 1876, by Miss Ida Stone. The school building stands about a mile east of the town.

There are three church organizations in the place; the Evangelical, the Methodist, and the United Brethren. Only one of these, the Evangelical, is provided with a church building.

The Earleton Lodge, No. 167, I. O. O. F., was moved to this place from Thayer, in July, 1882. There were, at the time, about twenty members, which has been increased to about thirty. Joseph Smith is noble grand; J. M. Murphy, secretary, and J. H. Orr, treasurer.

The country surrounding the town is fertile prairie, much of which is yet in the hands of speculators, and consequently unimproved. As it is, however, the town is favored with an extensive country trade, and is an important point in the shipment of grain and live stock. During the season of 1882 there was about 100,000 bushels of corn shipped from this point. The town, at present, contains two stores and a population of about one hundred. There is wanting, however, but the lapse of time, in which the full settlement of the surrounding country shall be made, and the impending necessities must naturally inure to the growth of the town and its ultimate attainment of importance in point of size and business industry.

Business men who used Earleton as their P. O. address as of 1906.

 

J. A. Alleman, General Store.

A. Gaughan, School Teacher.

Earleton Kansas, 1912.

Earleton, one of the thriving little towns of Neosho county, is located in Canville township on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. 12 miles west of Erie, the county seat. All lines of business are represented, including banking. There is an express office and a money order post office with two rural routes. The population in 1910 was 250. Earleton was founded by J. C. Lantz in 1870, in the interests of the railroad company, which was supposed to own the land. Mr. Lantz was the first postm,aster and kept the first store. The growth of the town was retarded by litigation for the title of the land and little was done in the way of building until the matter was settled in 1876. * In 1877 several new business enterprises sprang up, a depot was erected and the town started on its career.