I dont know the true reason why it was deserted only a few local tales.There are some old factory remains, old church (now a house) and a old cementary(becareful not to step through the graves). Once past the cementary it best to go foot or have 4wd. Submitted by: Chris wilson

Lahunte KS is actually spelled, for historical and cartographic purposes, LeHunt, KS (zip 67301) It is located immediately east of Elk City Lake and NorthWest of Independence. There really is nothing there: it lies on a bend in the hard-surfaced road and perhaps 5 houses exist. Matthew E Creese

My grandfather, George Reece, was born in 1902 and grew up in Neodesha. He told me that the old, abandoned factory about 1/2 mile to the west of what remains of LeHunt was a concrete factory. You can see remnants of sidewalks stretching west toward the factory from what formerly was the school house, so it is apparent LeHunt once was a larger community. My grandfather said that the factory was owned by the silent-movie cowboy star Hoot Gibson during the 1920s and was a thriving business. It shut its doors forever when the Great Depression descended upon the area. If you hike through the underbrush back to the factory, you will find a pick axe set in a concrete wall. Grandpa said a Mexican worker at the concrete factory fell into a vat of concrete, and his body was never recovered. The worker's pick axe was imbedded in a wall that was under construction as a monument to his loss, according to the story. The cemetery is another 1/2 mile or so north of the factory site. It is one of the older cemeteries in the area, with graves dating back to the late 1860s, as I recall from a visit there 30 years ago. Ruth A. Lloyd

LeHunt Cemetery
Courtesy Dixie Gal

LeHunt Smokestack
Courtesy Dixie Gal

Ruin walls of the factory
Courtesy Dixie Gal

Perkins Memorial
Courtesy Dixie Gal