Adrian, Kansas: Ghost Town on the Prairie

Adrian: Ghost Town on the Prairie

Mabel Rose Stone Martin was born on a farm at the edge of Adrian, Kansas on June 11, 1885. She was the third daughter of Alanson F. Stone and Ella Vanetta Jackson Stone. Eventually there were four girls.She married Cleveland Taylor Martin of Muddy Creek and had 12 children. She lived to be 103 years of age. [Read Mabel's story]

JULY 22, 2003--
This rolling prairie separated the town of Adrian from the Adrian Cemetery and Church. The church is gone, but the cemetery remains.

Adrian, Kansas is now a ghost town, Mabel's grandson, Ed Martin, banker in Wamego, has done some checking and found Adrian town site several miles north and slightly east of St. Mary's, Kansas. He believes that the Stone family farm was on land adjacent to the NW corner of the town of Adrian. Where there was once a community with grocery store there is now only one deteriorating house--that of the town doctor.

This deserted home, at SW corner of what was once the town intersection, was the home of Adrian's town doctor.

The town of Adrian once sat on all four corners of this intersection. The grocery once stood on the NE corner, upper right in this photo. The photo was taken looking from south to north.

Adrian Cemetery, looking northwest. The cemetery is 1 1/2 miles SE of the corner that once was the town of Adrian. Mabel recalled walking diagonally across a section of land to reach the church.

Thank you to Ed Martin for the tour of Adrian and environs.

Plaque memorializes Adrian UB Church. Mabel knew and respected first pastor Jacob Wykert, mentioned on this plaque.

Adrian Cemetery, looking east. Interestingly, the cemetery contains the grave of an Edwin Martin--not a relative of Mabel's Martin family.