Edwards County

Long before the county was settled, travelers used the Santa Fe trail through this area. During the Mexican War, a detachment of soldiers was attacked while using the trail near the site that was to become Kinsley. By the 1870s, it was clear that a railroad would follow the trail, and permanent settlers arrived. Edwards County was actually named for W. C. Edwards, who built a block of buildings in Kinsley during its early days.

There is a roadside park in Kinsley where US-50 and 56 join; it contains the county museum, AT&SF steam locomotive number 3424, an old church, and a sod house. The park also has a red stone DAR marker about the Santa Fe trail and public rest rooms. The stone and yellow brick Edwards County Courthouse is in Kinsley. East of Kinsley on US 50, there is a historical marker describing the 1848 battle of Coon Creek.

Fellsburg is almost gone, but it does have a new home and several nicely maintained older ones. There is a brick building beside the paved road that looks like it used to be a bank; it’s still in use.

Trousdale is almost a ghost town, but it still has a brick Methodist church and an old elevator. On the east side of Trousdale there are the ruins of two old shop buildings and a horse drawn road grader marked “Adams Road Patrol No 4 / J. D. Adams & Co. Indianapolis USA.”

Centerview, south, of Lewis has nearly vanished, but there is an interesting palisade fence, and the steps up to a long-gone building. A church once here was moved to the roadside park in Kinsley.

Ardell, west of Kinsley on US 50, used to be a big enough town to have a station. Now two rusting and abandoned “tin” elevators are all that’s left.