Harveyville, Kansas was founded in 1880 by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, who platted the town with the completion of the ATSF-owned Manhattan, Alma & Burlingame Railroad.

There had been settlers living in the general area of Harveyville for some 25 years before the town was formed. Henry Harvey and his sons homesteaded land on Dragoon Creek in 1854, not long after the creation of the Kansas Territory.

The Harris farm in Harveyville was a notable stop on the Underground Railroad and contained a secret tunnel.

In 1855, I. M. Harris staked a claim near today’s Harveyville, and later that year Morris Walton established his farm nearby. Gradually, more settlers arrived in the area, yet without the benefit of a railroad to bring in goods and ship products, growth was very slow.

Isaiah M. Harris staked his homestead claim at Harveyville in 1855.

Harveyville became a not-so-official stop on the Underground Railroad, and the Harris house had a secret tunnel for the inconspicuous movement of slaves to their freedom.

When the MA&B railroad was to be constructed, everyone, including the folks at nearby Wilmington hoped that the railroad would come their way.  But, again, the railroad chose property that suited its purposes.  It is often claimed in various instances that less-than-fair methods were used by some towns in Wabaunsee County to attract one of the two railroads that came to the county in the 1880s. Little evidence exists to suggest anything other than the railroad planning the location of towns and the route of their rail line based on what was most profitable for them.  If a town had something special to offer, such as Alma having the county seat, then the railroad would plan their line to intersect the town. In other cases, Eskridge, for example, it financially benefited the railroad to plat the town on land that they already owned, so it was the town that had to move to the railroad’s chosen location. Such, too, was the case at Harveyville.

This 1910s view of Harveyville shows the business district of the town in a bird’s-eye view of the town taken from atop the grain elevator.

Harveyville was incorporated in 1905 and in 1910 the population was 331. The 1912 Cyclopedia of Kansas reported that Harveyville had an ATSF railroad depot, a bank, Post Office, telegraph and express office, a newspaper, several mercantile stores, two churches, a grain elevator and a public school.

Click on any photo below to view all images in a gallery format.

This interior view of Brown’s Service Station at Harveyville, Kansas shows Paul Brown, Ross Brown and Marie Brown in the tire repair area of the shop. This photo is dated October 30, 1955.

Ross Brown, left and his son, Paul Brown, far right, wash customers’ windows while Marie Brown, center, fills a car with gas at the Ross Brown Oil Company in Harveyville, Kansas. This photograph is dated October 30, 1955.

Marie Brown, left, fills a customer’s car with fuel while Paul Brown washes the rear window of a car at the Ross Brown Oil Company’s Derby Gas Station at Harveyville, Kansas. This photograph is dated October 30, 1955.

This real photo postcard, circa 1910, shows a view of Joe McClure’s General Merchandise store in Harveyville, Kansas. A livery stable is located just behind McClure’s store.

This 1910s view of Harveyville shows the business district of the town in a bird’s-eye view of the town taken from atop the grain elevator.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe locomotive 2761, known as “Old Polly” leaves the ATSF depot in Harveyville for the final time in this 1974 view taken on the last day of service for the line.

This interior view of the Harveyville grain elevator shows three men inside the elevator office. While the men are not individually identified, an attached caption indicates that Clarence and Charles Cox are two of them men.

This crew of Harveyville, Kansas men appears to be ready for work in this 1912 real photo postcard. From left to right are Victor Grigsby, Walter Grigsby, C.L. Bogard, Reece Haller, and Ray Connley. Harveyville Lumber Company is visible in the background.

The Manhattan, Burlingame & Alma Railway was completed as far north as Alma and the first trains began to run on the line on July 5, 1880. This photo shows men driving the last spike at the Harveyville station, and has an attached caption that misidentifies the date as 1898.

This view of Main Street in Harveyville is dated 1914. One can see the Santa Fe Hotel to the right, as well as Joe McClure’s store. In the center of the block on the left side of the road, one can see the IOOF Hall, formerly the M.A.B Hotel.

This view of Main Street in Harveyville, Kansas is dated 1970. At the far left one can see the IOOF Hall, formerly the M.A.B. Hotel.

This photograph is a photograph of a group of people on the porch of the M.A.B. Hotel in Harveyville, Kansas in the 1890s. Five individuals are identified in handwriting on the image, including left to right, Oma Gookins, Hardy Marsh, Asa Gookins, Josie Gookins and Orinda Gookins. In later years this building became the IOOF Hall.

This early 1900s view of the Harveyville grain elevator shows two men, Bill Boatwright and John Shrink on top of the elevator, while an unidentified man stands on the building’s driveway. The elevator was owned by the Garinger-Farrell Elevator Company and was demolished on February 4, 2008.