Silkville is a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 in Williamsburg Township

Williamsburg Township, Franklin County, Kansas

Williamsburg Township is a township in Franklin County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 672. It was named for the small town of Williamsburg.-Geography:...

, Franklin County

Franklin County, Kansas

Franklin County is a county located in East Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 25,992. Its county seat and most populous city is Ottawa...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Its elevation is 1,161 feet (354 m), and it is located at 38°27′0"N 95°29′21"W (38.4500149, -95.4891477), along U.S. Route 50

U.S. Route 50

U.S. Route 50 is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over from Ocean City, Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean to West Sacramento, California. Until 1972, when it was replaced by Interstate Highways west of the Sacramento area, it extended to San Francisco, near...

 southwest of Williamsburg

Williamsburg, Kansas

Williamsburg is a city in Franklin County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 397.-Geography:Williamsburg is located at...

.

Established in 1870 by Frenchman

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 Ernest de Boissiere, it was intended to be a utopian commune

Utopia

Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...

. Although the community initially prospered through silk farming

Sericulture

Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B...

, many members left to join mainstream society, and Valeton led his people into dairy and livestock production. When this failed, the community dispersed, and the property was given to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows

Independent Order of Odd Fellows

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...

. Financial reasons compelled the Order to give up the property, and after a long court battle, it passed into the hands of lawyers from Topeka.

Today, little remains of Silkville. Many buildings were destroyed by a 1916 fire, and only three stone buildings survive. In 1972, these buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 under the name of "Silkville," because of their significance in the history of Kansas

History of Kansas

The history of Kansas, argued historian Carl L. Becker a century ago, reflects American ideals. He wrote: "The Kansas spirit is the American spirit double distilled. It is a new grafted product of American individualism, American idealism, American intolerance. Kansas is America in...

. The aspects of the community seen as most significant historically were its nature as an intentional community

Intentional community

An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They...

 and its practice of sericulture

Sericulture

Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B...

.

Further reading

• "Mons. E.V. Boissiere's Silk Factory — A Magnificent Enterprise". Ottawa Journal, 1871-06-01.
• Nordhoff, Charles. The Communistic Societies of the United States. New York
  New York
  New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
  
  : Harper, 1875, 375-382.