Abandoned Record
About Prairie City
Prairie City is a ghost town in southeast Douglas County, Kansas, United States, near present-day Baldwin City.
This is a site record: what public sources say about Prairie City, gathered in one place. We haven't written a full guide yet, so history, current access and photos are still to come. Treat the status as unknown until a guide confirms it.
Map
Where Prairie City is
Historic maps
8 historic USGS maps cover Prairie City
Topographic sheets from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain), oldest first. Older sheets often show the camp, mines and roads while the place was alive. The downloads are large map scans; USGS topoView shows them in the browser.
- 1885 Lawrence sheet, 1:125,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1889 Lawrence sheet, 1:125,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1947 Lawrence sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1950 Lawrence sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1956 Lawrence sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1957 Baldwin City sheet, 1:24,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1961 Lawrence sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1983 Lawrence sheet, 1:100,000 · GeoTIFF download
Directions
Getting there
Before you go
- Many ghost town sites are on private land, active mining claims or tribal land. Check land status and ask permission.
- Roads to old townsites are often unmaintained dirt. Map apps may route over closed or impassable tracks.
- Removing artifacts from public land is illegal under federal and most state laws.
Nearby
Other sites near Prairie City
Straight-line distance to other mapped sites in our Kansas index.
Sources
Sources
- ghosttowns.com, "Prairie City": county, roads, climate, best time to visit, remains.
- Wikipedia, "Prairie City, Kansas": coordinates and summary.
- Wikidata Q7237827.
- USGS GNIS 482179.
- USGS 3D Elevation Program, elevation at the coordinates.
- USGS The National Map and Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain).