> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.citizenjournal.us/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Johnstown House, Skunk Dens Still Stand Near Lindsborg - URL: https://www.citizenjournal.us/johnstown-house-skunk-dens-still-stand-near-lindsborg/ - Published: 2026-10-05T11:58:07.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-05T11:58:07.000Z - Description: Herman Johnson bought the faded railroad hamlet for $500 around 1903 and farmed, trapped and bred skunks there - Author: Sarah Newberry - Tags: McPherson County, dnn, #news Sign up for our free newsletter and never miss a story. [Sign up free](https://subscribe.citizenjournal.us/?ref=citizenjournal.us) LINDSBORG, Kan. — A house, skunk dens and the stone remains of a general store still mark the site of Johnstown, a McPherson County town that faded more than a century ago, the Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum said in a Friday, Oct. 2, post. According to [Legends of Kansas](https://legendsofkansas.com/every-place-kansas-i-j/?ref=citizenjournal.us), Johnstown was a railroad hamlet six miles south of Lindsborg, and its post office closed in 1904\. [In a 2013 account](https://kansasghosttowns.blogspot.com/2013/04/?m=0&ref=citizenjournal.us), Kansas journalist Amy Bickel reported that Herman Johnson continued farming and trapping at the former townsite after the community faded. According to a Friday, Oct. 2, post by the Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum, Swedish settlers built cabins along Indian Creek in the late 1860s and early 1870s. The community took its name from John Johnson, postmaster of the office established in 1883. Legends of Kansas describes Johnstown as a station on the Union Pacific Railroad's Salina and McPherson branch. Bickel reported that the community also had a Lutheran church, creamery, school, general store, and stockyards. The Legends of Kansas website lists Johnstown among McPherson County's extinct towns. According to [Bickel's April 12, 2013, account](https://kansasghosttowns.blogspot.com/2013/04/?m=0&ref=citizenjournal.us), based partly on interviews with Johnson's descendants, Herman Johnson bought the roughly 20-acre Johnstown townsite for $500 around 1903, along with the former Larson store. In 2013, Malm told Bickel that Johnson raised watermelons, trapped animals, and bred skunks. Bickel reported that Johnson wrote about trapping for the national publication Camp and Trail. Malm's copy of the article was undated, leaving its publication year unknown. In the article, Johnson wrote, “The otter and beaver is a thing of the past, and so are our game birds a thing of the past if they don’t enforce stricter laws to protect them.” According to Bickel's account, Johnson built a home around 1919 with running water and electrical connections, though electricity did not reach the area until 1946\. Bickel reported that a descendant lived in the remodeled and expanded house in 2013. The museum said Friday that the house still stands, along with skunk dens beside Indian Creek, the former railroad bed and stone remains marking the general store site. Neither the museum post nor Bickel's account indicates that the former townsite is open to the public. *This article was written using our proprietary AI system, Cronkite. The final decision to publish this article was made by a human. For more info, read our* [*AI policy*](https://www.citizenjournal.us/ai-policy/)*.* --- --- Found a mistake? Have a news tip or feedback to share? Contact our newsroom using the button below: [Contact Us](https://www.citizenjournal.us/contact/) ---