Historical Directory of Kansas Towns [P]

Pacific City--Nemaha; 1856; located at center of S24 T3S R14E;

Padonia--Brown; Jesse Padon, innkeeper; Padonia is just north of Hiawatha 
in Brown County.  

Page City--Logan; K.P. R.R.;
Paint Creek--Bourbon; 
Palco--Rooks; 
Palermo--Doniphan; 1856; S5 T4S R22E; P.O. 1855-1904, Frank
Mahan, postmaster. 
Palmer--Washington; J. Palmer, educator
Palmetto--

Paola--Miami; name came from Baptiste Peoria; town first
called Baptiste Spring; named changed to Paola (the natives had 
difficulty pronouncing the "r" in Peoria);
1856 Paola was center of 'Bloody Kansas' border wars; 
1860 The first oil well West of Mississippi was discovered at Paola. 

Paradise--
Park (Buffalo Park)--Gove; K.P. R.R.
Parker--Linn; J. W. Parker, postmaster
Parkerville--Morris; M.K.T. R.R.; located on the Neosho River in
Parker Township; incorporated Feb. 1871 by C. G. Parker (townsite
owner), J. A. Rogers, G. W. Clark, H. Daniels and W. M. Thomas.

Parnell--Atchison; Mount Pleasant Twp.; located northwest of 
Cummings; 
Parnell Junction--Atchison; Mount Pleasant Twp.; 
A.T.S.F. R.R.; U.P. R.R. Central Branch;

Parsons--Labette; located east of Independence; named for Judge
Levi Parsons, promoter and president of the Katy Railroad; 1868
M.K.T. R.R.; 1871 incorporated as a city; 

Partridge--Reno; C.R.I.P. R.R. 1887
Pauline--A.T.S.F. R.R.
Pavilion--Wabaunsee; 

Pawnee--Bourbon;
Pawnee--Riley/Geary; K.P. R.R.; first territorial capitol;

Pawnee Rock--Barton; landmark located near Fort Larned 
(Pawnee County) in the Pawnee buffalo hunting territory; 
named for an Indian battle between the Pawnees and Comanches; 
natural fortress on Santa Fe Trail, became known as the 
"Prairie Citadel"; A.T.S.F. R.R.

Pawnee Station--
Pawnee Valley--

Paxico--Wabaunsee; C.R.I.P. R.R. 1887;
Peabody--A.T.S.F. R.R.; named after F.H. Peabody, the vice
president of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1875.
Peace--
Peach Creek--Washington;
Pearlette--
Peck--Sedgwick; 
Pedagogen--
Penalosa--Kingman; 
Pence--Scott; John W. Pence, postmaster; 
Penokee--
Peoria--Franklin;  The first county seat of Franklin County; 

Perris or Perru--Osborne; 
   State of Kansas Census, June 1st 1880, Township is listed and is 
   in Osborne County. 
[P. Talmadge (pt@hamsfork.net) contributed this information.]

Perry--Jefferson; C.R.I.P. R.R.; K.P. R.R.; 

Perth--Sumner; 
Peru--Chautauqua; 

Petersburg--Leavenworth; P.O., now Lansing; named for Peter Cadue.
Petersburgh--Doniphan; 1857; S19 T4S R19E; established by Peter 
Cadue, a Kickapoo trader; P.O. 1858-59, A. Daugherty, postmaster.

Peterton--Osage; 
Petrolia--Allen; 
Pfeifer--Ellis; German name; 

Phillipsburg--Phillips; named after Col. William A. Phillips,
commander of an Indian home guard regiment during the civil War.

Piedmont--Greenwood; S.L.S.F R.R.;
Pierceville--A.T.S.F. R.R.
Pilsen--Marion; 

Piper--Wyandotte; Piper is located west of Kansas City, Kansas; 
Piper is located just off K-7 near Leavenworth road at 110th; 
once a railroad town, said to be named for a railway official, 
possibly A. M. Piper, a constable in Johnson County;
there is still a Piper rural school district;

Piqua--Woodson; M.K.T. R.R.;
Piqua is located 2 miles into Woodson County, West of the Allen County
line. There are 4 cemeteries in the area, two are Catholic, a township
cemetery about a mile South and the Iola Township (Allen County)
Cemetery two miles East.

Pittsburg--Crawford; name came from coal region of Pennsylvania;
1870's founded as a mining camp; 1878 Robert Layton established a
zinc smelter here; 1903 Pittsburg State University was
established as the Auxiliary Manual Training Normal School. 

Pittsburg--Crawford; 
   Pittsburg was named for the mining region in Pennsylvania with the
   same name, and was platted by Franklin Playter on May 20, 1876. The
   only problem was that there was already a town named Pittsburg in
   Mitchell County, KS. The new city was named New Pittsburg, until 1880
   when an agreement was made with W. A. Pitts, the founder of the
   Mitchell County Pittsburg to use the name. His was changed to Tipton. 
[Mark Hill (dittomo@swbell.net) contributed this information.] 

Pittsburg--Mitchell; named for W. A. Pitt, treasurer of the local
town company;

Pitzer Mines--

Pixley--Barber; 
   The railroad went through this town to Medicine Lodge, KS. I'm trying
   to find out more about this town as Pixley was my maiden name. I was
   born in Newton, KS. 
[Barbara Pixley Roegner (roegner@tstar.net) contributed this information.]

According to the DeLorme atlas map of Kansas and Expedia at 
http://www.expediamaps.com Pixley is just about 3-5 miles 
southeast of Medicine Lodge.  It appears to be on Pixley
Road at the railroad tracks just east and slightly south 
of where Highway 180 makes its east turn headed toward Sharon.

Plains (aka West Plains)--Meade; C.R.I.P. R.R. 1887
Plainville--
Platte Valley--Finney; Listed in 1860 census for Arapahoe County;
Pleasant Spring/Granada--Nemaha; 1855; NE1/4 S12 T4S R14E;
Pleasant Spring P.O. 1856, David Locknane, postmaster; Granada
P.O. 1864, William Letson, postmaster;
Pleasant View--Cherokee

Pleasanton--Linn; May 19, 1858 Marais Des Cygnes confrontation
between pro-slavery and abolition forces; 
founded July 1869;
located near the spot where the French had discoverd galena;
name came from Potosi, Missouri;
name changed from Potosi to Pleasanton; name chosen by General
Plumb for General Alfred Pleasanton who defeated the Confederates 
in the Battle of Mine Creek in Oct. 1864;

Plevna--Reno 
Pliney-Saline; Pliney was "swallowed up" by Gypsum City.
Plymouth--A.T.S.F. R.R.
Point of Rocks--Santa Fe Trail Jornada Route
Pomona--
Porterville--Bourbon; Levi G. Porter, postmaster

Portland--Sumner; I know very little about the history of
   Portland. However, I grew up on a small farm located a few miles to
   the west of the town. Portland (during part of the 1950's) had a
   school, and I believe the building is still standing. A railroad went
   through the town and their was a grain elevator in town. I also
   believe there was a church there as late as the 1960's or early 70's.
   The town (what is left of it) is located just to the north of highway
   166 about 1.5 miles and about 1.5 miles to the east of the Kansas
   Turnpike.  [contributed by Larry L. Miller (wakarusa@cjnetworks.com)]

Portis--Osborne; named changed from Bethany to Portis 
because the M.P. R.R. already had a Bethany on its line in Missouri;
named after Portis, the M.P. R.R.'s vice-president; 

Post Creek--Wabaunsee; 
Potosi--Linn; for a short time this town was names Hillsboro. 
Pottawatomie (Mount Gilead)--Anderson; 

Potter--Atchison; 
Potter is close to Leavenworth; 
[Lorelei Evans (Evansltuc@aol.com) contributed this information.]

Potwin--Butler; Potwin is a small community of
   about 440. It is a quiet town, with a extremely friendly, family like
   atmosphere. With a small grocery store, a gas station, a bank, a
   restaurant, and a post office, the downtown street is the place for
   the locals to gather to gossip in the mornings.

Powhat(t)an--Brown; first named Locknane as a COC & PP stage station;
Powhatan was the father of Pocahontas; Powhattan Township 
touches the corner of Hiawatha Township.
Powhat(t)an--Nemaha; 1856, center of S32 T5S R15E about 3 m. n.e.
of Wetmore; P.O. 1857, Russell Newell, postmaster (post office
relocated to Wetmore in 1867); 
Powhat(t)an--Nemaha; c1887; another town of same name was located
about 10 m. n.e. when the Rock Island Railroad was constructed.

Prag--Rawlins; 
   My great grandfather Frank VASACEK, was postmaster of Prag P. O., located
   in Rawlins County, 7 miles below the forks of the Beaver River, near Ludell.
   It is mentioned in a report submitted by Captain William G. Wedemeyer
   of the 16th Infantry, regarding losses suffered by settlers during the
   1878 Cheyenne raid in Northwestern Kansas. All I know was that my
   great grandfather handled the mail for the Czech community in the
   area. Whether it was actually considered a town, I don't know.
   [material contributed by Jeanne Harris (ron@homemail.com)]

Prairie--
Prairie Center--Prairie Center, Kansas is contained within the lands 
that the government took over for the Sunflower Ordnance Plant during 
WWII.  The graves were moved mostly to the DeSoto, Kansas Cemetery and 
Bethel Church was torn down.
Prairie City--located on the Humboldt Trail; early-day settlement
southwest of present-day Baldwin;
Prairie Dog Creek--Norton; Leavenworth-Pikes Peak Express
(Station 15)
Prairie Village--

Pratt--Pratt; 1884 founded on a site that was once the hunting
grounds of Kiowa Indians; C.R.I.P R.R. 1887;
>From the book "1001 Kansas Place Names" by Sondra Van Meter McCoy & Jan
Hults  "The county was named for Caleb Pratt, Second Lieutenant in the
Second Kansas Cavalry, who was killed at the Battle of Wilson's Creek."

Prescott--Linn; originally called Coal Center; platted by James Skinner; 
"I am looking for a James McCale or McKale that was suppose to be the 
Postmaster of Prescott in the 1920"s  Am I over looking this town???"
[Judy McCale (drago@citynet.net) contributed this information]

Preston--Pratt; C.R.I.P. R.R. 1887; about 30 miles from Pratt;
Pretty--
Pretty Prairie--
Princeton
Prosper--Rice; Prosper in Farmer Township was Bushton's rival;

Protection--Comanche; 
My Great Grandfather Harvey Titus Rayl was the
proprietor of the Post Office store in Protection abt 1876. 
[Connie Monroe (coniann@juno.com) contributed this information.]
  
Purcell--Doniphan; John Purcell, pioneer; S.F. R.R.