COVERT

NAME: Covert
COUNTY: Osborne
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 1
CLIMATE: Moderate winters, beautiful springs and hot summers
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Be careful of the heat in the summer.
COMMENTS: There are neighbors and farms around the town site but no one living within the town itself. There are approximately 6 buildings in the town site, some with markers and some without.
REMAINS: @ six buildings
Covert was founded in 1880 and survived for many years as a ranching and farming service center for the majority of south-central Osborne County. It never grew to have more than 150 people and so never incorporated as a city, but remained a quiet -well, relatively quiet - village. In 1915 a rural high school district was organized and for the next 35 years the school actually eclipsed agricultural services as the town's main employer, a phenomenon that may be unique in the annals of Kansas history. The burning of the high school in 1951 and the subsequent vote to close the school the next year effectively killed the town. The last general store closed its doors in 1960 and the post office was permanently closed in 1966. Submitted by: Dave LaForest


Mary Clow and Onereene Moore in their "Sunday best" outside of Hodge's Merchandise Store in Covert around 1910. The store burned down in 1912.
Courtesy Von Rothenberger


The old school water tower at Covert is all that remains of the once proud rural high school, which burned in 195l. The brick tower is now a popular tourist destination.
Courtesy Von Rothenberger

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