Xenia ( ) is an unincorporated area in Franklin Township, Bourbon County, Kansas, United States.
History Settling in the Xenia area in 1856, the year after Bourbon County was organized in 1855, were John Van Syckle, Samuel Stephenson and Charles Anderson.
John Van Syckle and his father laid out Xenia's village plat in 1858.kancoll.com The community was named after Xenia, Ohio. The younger Van Syckle opened the village's first store, offering general merchandise.
Xenia gained a post office on November 29, 1858, when the Peru (Linn County) post office was moved to Xenia. Peru, which is now a ghost town, had a post office from August 5 to November 29, 1858.Robert W. Baughman's Kansas Post Offices, May 29, 1828-August 3, 1961, published by the Kansas Postal History Society, an affiliate of the Kansas Historical Society. As well as being Xenia's first merchant, John Van Syckle became Xenia's first postmaster.http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/223977/page/8/ Kansas Historical Society, Kansas Memory records
The first church building was built in 1876 by the Methodists.
In 1878, Franklin township was Bourbon County's fourth-most populous, at 1,474. The county seat of Fort Scott had 5,081 residents. Scott Township had 2,036. Marion Township, just south of Franklin in the county's west end, had 1,676.
In 1910, Xenia had a money-order post office and population of 115."Kansas, a cyclopedia of state history ..." Xenia Post Office closed Aug. 31, 1926.Robert W. Baughman's Kansas Post Offices, May 29, 1828-August 3, 1961, published by the Kansas Postal History Society, an affiliate of the Kansas Historical Society.
Geography Located at an altitude of 1,047 feet (317 m), Xenia lies in Bourbon County's northwestern corner, along K-65, west of the confluence of the Little Osage River and Limestone Creek, about 18 miles northwest of Fort Scott.
References
Further reading
External links Grand Lodge of Kansas A.F.&A.M. Xenia Baptist Church Xenia history in 1912 Bourbon County maps: Current , Historic - KDOT