24/7 Trauma and Biohazard Cleanup in Ionia, KS

Ionia is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Ionia Township, Jewell County, Kansas, located near the middle forks of Limestone Creek in the southern part of the township.

Ionia was homesteaded in 1869, when A. N. Cole took the first claim in Ionia Township in September 1869, and it was settled in 1870 by families who took claims that August and September.

A post office was established in Ionia on April 13, 1871, and it remained in operation for more than a century until it closed on August 6, 1982, which is why Legends of Kansas classifies Ionia as an extinct town even though the community still exists as a CDP.

Ionia Township was organized on August 10, 1872, and it is the largest township in Jewell County.

By 1880 Ionia had a public school, Methodist, Dunkard and Universalist congregations, and a tri-weekly stagecoach service to Jewell and Smith Center, along with two blacksmiths, a physician, a general store, a hotel and a marble works.

In 1910 Ionia was located on the Smith Center and Jewell City road and had banking facilities, a post office and telegraph service, and a population of 250.

Ionia's first high school classes were taught in the 1906-1907 school year, with a first class of six graduating on April 19, 1907, and the school grew into a four-year program by 1920-1921 and became Ionia Rural High School District No. 3.

The community was served over the years by two local newspapers, the Ionia Independent, published from 1917 to 1918, and the Ionia Booster, published from 1931 to 1934.

The 2020 United States census counted just 17 people in 9 households and 5 families in Ionia, with 19 housing units and a median age of 67.5 years.

Ionia is about 12 miles southwest of Mankato, the Jewell County seat, and the community is served today by the Rock Hills USD 107 public school district in Mankato, while its Community Church remains active and its old high school building still stands.