A cheese factory and blacksmith shop were built, but the majority of the population (around 75 at the highest) were farmers and ranchers.

The obituary of their son Delbert Franklin Gill states that he received his education at the Terra Cotta school.

At a convenient location along the Kansas Pacific Railway in 1885, Terra Cotta housed several stockyards.

Between 1886 and 1912, more cattle were shipped from Terra Cotta and neighboring Brookville than from any other place between Kansas City and Denver.

Today, only the railroad tracks remain of the townsite, as the depot was moved to Ellsworth as part of a museum complex.