Anthony | Attica | Bluff City | Crystal Springs | Danville | Freeport | Harper | Runnymede | Waldron

Homesteading in Harper County

Freeport / Midlothian

About three miles southeast of the present site of Freeport, a trading post and a post office were being operated by B. H. Freeman in 1878. The Midlothian post office was established on April 19, 1878.

The St. Louis, Fort Scott and Wichita Railroad had built tracks to Anthony in 1885, and shortly afterwards, Mr. Freeman moved his post office to the present site of Freeport.

The town site was platted on February 27, 1885, and eight days later, Midlothian was platted. The towns were side by side and divided by Grand Avenue, a north-south street.

The depot was built on Main Street of Freeport, and the towns eventually became hostile to each other. However, the two towns came to good terms and on March 18, 1886, the Freeport Tribune had written that the differences had been settled. Midlothian became known as West Freeport. Freeport became an incorporated city on October 12, 1887, and it became a boom town. There were 300 residents in 1887, and by 1892, the population was between 700 and 1000.

When the Cherokee Strip opened on September 16, 1893, the decline of the town began. The 1895 Census shows that the population was only 54. To this day, it is known as the smallest incorporated city in the state.

The ethnicity of its settlers is unknown.

Sources

Sanders, Gwendoline and Paul. "The Harper County Story". North Newton, Kansas: The Mennonite Press, 1968.

Fitzgerald, Daniel. "Ghost Towns of Kansas." Vol. 3. Daniel Fitzgerald, 1982.