Smoky Hill City, Kansas

Smoky Hill City is a ghost town in Lookout Township, Ellis County, Kansas, United States.

The delusion was abetted by unscrupulous assayers, and by swindlers selling secret metallurgical processes to extract gold from the shale.

Vigorously warning against the gold delusion was Kansas state geologist Erasmus Haworth, even though the influential promoters threatened to have him fired for his opposition.

[1] The designation of Smoky Hill City as a townsite was vacated by Ellis County in 1905, at the request of Charles Holliday.

The townsite occupied approximately 540 acres (2.2 km2) in sections 3 and 10 of Township 15 South, Range 20 West of the 6th Principal Baseline and Meridian, 38°45′42.4″N 99°31′55.9″W / 38.761778°N 99.532194°W / 38.761778; -99.532194, elevation 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level.