‘Do NOT’ Go West Young Man!

HORACE, Greeley County, Kansas

by

Gary B. Speck

 

 

Horace is a fading class D, near ghost town located along the Union (Missouri) Pacific Railroad line in western Kansas.  It is located SH 96 just 14 miles east of the Colorado/Kansas state line and two miles northwest of Tribune, the county seat with a 2010 population of 741.

 

This fading, tiny, still-incorporated city of the third class, has what I feel is one of the most classic name combinations in American Ghosttowndom!  A town with the name of Horace doesn’t stand out, nor does the county named Greeley.  But combine them… Horace Greeley.

 

Horace Greeley is a name familiar to mid-19th Century American history.  This man was an outspoken newspaper editor, anti-slavery advocate and political activist.  He not only advised from behind the scenes, but also put his mouth where his money was and served for three-months as a New York congressional representative in December 1848 – March 1849, then ran against General Ulysses S. Grant for President in 1872.  He was born in 1811, and died shortly after his loss in the election. He got into newspapering while in his early 20s, and by the late 1830s was an avid expansionist and directed people to head to the West to help develop it.  Despite popular opinion, he did NOT coin the phrase “Go West Young Man” but did advocate what that statement encompasses, speaking highly and often of the need to go West.  In 1841 he founded the daily New York Tribune, which became a powerhouse in the newspapering field.  He followed suit, gaining fame and political clout as well.  In the 1850s Greeley espoused political reform and was one of the major figures involved in the founding of the Republican political party.  As a result, his name was purloined for a county and a town.  Even the neighboring town of Tribune was named after his newspaper, yet Greeley never visited the area.  Go figure!

 

ANYWAY, when we visited back in 2005, the first thing that caught my ear was the combination of names - Horace & Greeley.  This fading agricultural community was named after the famed newspaper editor/politician and in 2000, the population was 140, with 64 of its 73 houses occupied.  By 2010 the population had declined to 70, with 33 out of its 47 housing units occupied.  Cruising up the main street, I noted a collection of empty and occupied buildings, mobile homes, cabins in all stages of repair, the still active Horace Greeley Baptist Church and lots of dead pickup trucks.  Unfortunately it was not on my list of places we planned to visit, so we didn’t even slow down enough to take pictures.  Baaaadddd! Gary!

 

According to the Cyclopedia of Kansas, Horace was established in June 1886, but the Kansas State Historical Society indicates the post office was established February 10, 1886. Could this have been a rural post office that morphed into a town a few months later?  My sources don’t elaborate, but the Denver, Memphis and Atlantic Railroad reached the site of Horace on August 2, 1887.  Once the railroad arrived, the town quickly grew to a population of 300 and had a full gamut of businesses.  It is credited with a bank and a newspaper in July 1888, at which time the county seat was up for grabs.  Horace and nearby Tribune (1888 population of 200), battled, and Tribune (with the railroad depot) was granted temporary seat honors.  In September a school was established in Horace, and in November a formal election for the official siting of the county seat was held.  Tribune again came out on top with 420 votes, while also-ran Horace polled 202. 

 

Even though the depot and county seat ended up in nearby Tribune, Horace also appears to have been a railroad town as the Kansas Sampler Blog mentions that in the early 20th Century there were a couple railroad roundhouses in town.

 

The 1920 Census shares some interesting information on the makeup of the town.  It lists the place of business for Horace’s citizens, and by looking through that, I was able to come up with the following: several boarding and rooming houses, a drug store, dry goods/grocery store, farmer’s store, garage, photographer, postmaster (23 year old Ida J. Lovett),  45 railroad/roundhouse employees (including a hostler, 2 telegraphers and a YMCA clerk), possibly 2 restaurants (one employee was listed as a waiter, and another group as employed by Van Nay Eating), a school (with four teachers and a janitor) and a Sinclair Oil Co. (gas station?).

 

Undated photos on the Kansas Heritage website shows: Albert Holmes’ garage, a blacksmith (Charles Holmes), Curtis Majors’ store, E. B. Waldren’s store, a hotel and a restaurant.

 

The post office was discontinued December 30, 1965. 

 

In 2007, Tribune and Greeley County unified together politically, however, Horace elected to remain independent.  There looks to be a lot of interesting history for this little town, but I have yet to unearth more details….

 

NEWSPAPERS:

·        Greeley County Gazette (September 16, 1886 – January 26, 1888)

·        Greeley County News (September 29, 1887 – January 26, 1888)

·        Horace Messenger (February 02, 1888 – May 16, 1889)

·        Horace Champion (June 29, 1888 – September 27, 1889)

·        Greeley County New Era (October 11 – November 22, 1889)

·        Greeley County Journal (October 08 1891 – May 05, 1892)

·        Horace Headlight (May 12, 1892 – November 09, 1893)

 

Population figures:

·        1888 – 300, 1910 – 189, 1920 – 212, 1970 – 137, 1980 - 137, 1990 - 168, 2000 - 143, 2010 - 70

 

LOCATION:

·        W½ of the NW¼ Sec 19, T18S, R40W, 6PM, Tribune Twp

·        NE¼ Sec 24, T18S, R41W, 6PM, Tribune Twp.

·        Latitude: 38.4764046 / 38° 28' 35" N

·        Longitude: -101.7907290 / 101° 47' 27" W

 

SOURCES: 

·       63 (86, 95, 02 – L/2); 69 (E/1); 78 (May 2006); PV (July 2005); W5a (pg 789, 872); W7a, b, c, d (Greeley Co.); W9; W24; W26gl

 

This was our Ghost Town of the Month for February 2015

 

Visit Ghost Town USA’s Kansas Ghost Town Pages

ornia Ghost Town Pages

*       *       *

 

Also visit: Ghost Town USA’s

 

Home Page | Site Map | Ghost Town Listings | On-the-Road Again | Photo Gallery | Treasure Legends

CURRENT Ghost Town of the Month | PAST Ghost Towns of the Month

Ghost Towner's Code of Ethics | Publications | Genealogy | License Plate Collecting

 

A few LINKS to outside webpages:

Ghost Towns | Treasure Hunting | License Plate Collecting | Genealogy

 

***

 

E-mail Us 

 

 

 

 

***

 

THIS PAGE

FIRST POSTED:  February 03, 2015

LAST UPDATED: March 02, 2015

 

**************

 

This website and all information posted here-in is
copyright © 1998-2015
by Gary B Speck Publications


ALL rights reserved