A post office named Plum Grove was established on July 1, 1870 in northwest Butler County, Kansas.

The route was close to Plum Grove, so it was decided to move the tiny community 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west to ensure it would be next to the future railroad.

[4][2] In the spring of 1885, the McPherson branch of the Missouri Pacific Railroad was built east/west a few miles south of Plum Grove.

Merchants, houses, people moved over time to one of the nearby new communities of Brainerd or Potwin,[5] and a small number to Whitewater and Peabody.

In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway was built north/south about 5 miles west of Plum Grove,[6] and it was the "final straw".