Bloom is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Ford County, Kansas, United States.
Its
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
closed in 1992. At a 2018 estimate, the community had a population of 94.
It is located along
U.S. Route 54
U.S. Route 54 (US 54) is an east–west United States Highway that runs northeast–southwest for from El Paso, Texas, to Griggsville, Illinois. The Union Pacific Railroad's Tucumcari Line (former Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific an ...
highway.
History
Bloom was established by Thomas J. Vanderslice and Samuel O. Albright in 1887 or 1888. Vanderslice named it Bloom after his hometown of
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Bloomsburg is the only incorporated town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located southwest of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre along ...
. The small town sprang to life when the
Rock Island Railroad
The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.
At ...
pushed west. The town's original train depot can still be found in Bloom.
Bloom's population reached a few hundred in the 1930s but gradually declined thereafter and is now less than 50. Bloom High School closed in 1964 when the town's school district merged with that of
Minneola.
The small town once had a hotel, gas station, restaurant, post office, and lumber yard. Today, only a
grain elevator
A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...
business and private residences remain. Wheat farms and ranches surround the small town.
[Dead towns of Kansas, Internet website.]
Demographics
At a 2018 estimate, Bloom, Kansas has a population of 94. The same estimate also found that there were 37 households, with there being an average of 2.5 people per household. The median age is estimated to be at 35.8. The per capita income is estimated to be around $44,295, with about 4.3% of residents below the poverty line.
References
Further reading
External links
Images of BloomWichita State University Library.
* Ford County maps
CurrentHistoric
- KDOT
Unincorporated communities in Ford County, Kansas
Unincorporated communities in Kansas
{{fordCountyKS-geo-stub