Le Hunt, Kansas is a ghost town located in Montgomery County, Kansas. The most prominent structure that remains standing in the area, but has since been abandoned, is the United Kansas Portland Cement Company plant. Ruins of the former company could be seen in the woods along the shores of Elk City Lake.
An old photo of the United Kansas Portland Cement Company plant. (Link: http://historygoesbump.blogspot.com/2016/12/hgb-ep-167-portland-cement-works.html)
History Of Le Hunt
It is believed that Le Hunt was established in the year 1905. This was during the time the United Kansas Portland Cement Company purchased 1500 acres of land in the area. They then built a large factory. Because they had a lot of workers in the factory, they had to create a company town where the workers can live. The town was then given the name Le Hunt, which was named after the president of the Hunt engineering company of Michigan named Leigh Hunt. Hunt worked to help construct the plant in the area.
A year after Le Hunt was established, more than 1,000 individuals lived there. However, years later, the United Kansas Portland Cement Company suffered years of financial-related setbacks because the cement industry in Kansas was failing. By the year 1913, the plant had to be closed temporarily as repairs will be had. However, the following year, the United Kansas Portland Cement Company filed for bankruptcy.
The Sunflower Portland Cement Company later purchased the establishment. Three years later, however, because of World War I, the Sunflower Portland Cement Company was sold to its rival, Western States Portland Cement Company. The Le Hunt Plant was permanently closed, the equipment were sold, and the homes had to be moved somewhere else. Le Hunt started to become a ghost town after that.
A former photo of Sunflower Portland Cement Company’s plant. (Link: http://www.kansascyclist.com/news/2013/09/moving-to-portland-alley/)
To this day, the ruins of the cement plant and town remain in the area. The most prominent feature that remains there is the smoke stack of the factory. Most of the former settlements were already reclaimed by nature but the said smoke stack remains intact.
A photo of the smoke stack of the former United Kansas Portland Cement Company. (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFoxzydkXBI)
The Ghost Of Le Hunt
The ghost at the former cement plant is said to be a former worker named Bohr or Boars. Allegedly, Bohr died in a freak accident. Many claimed that Bohr fell into a barrel of concrete. His body was never recovered. His co-workers then embedded his wheelbarrow, shovel, and pick into a wall of concrete in one of the buildings under construction at that time. Bohr’s name and pickaxe are said to be seen in the ruins of the factory until this day.
A photo of the memorial for Bohr or Boars. (Link: https://abandonedks.com/lehunt-cement-plant/)
It is unclear what Bohr does whenever he haunts the area. But if it is true that he was really buried together with all his stuff, it is understandable why he allegedly remain in the area. His former co-workers reportedly thought there was nothing else they could do so they just built him a memorial. Many claimed to have felt heaviness in their chest area when they went near the memorial wall of the fallen worker. This probably was how Bohr felt when he fell into the barrel of cement.
Aside from Bohr, other ghostly encounters at the Le Hunt ghost town include a ghost dog. The said ghost reportedly moans, howls, and causes rustling in the bushes whenever one walks through the wooded area.
Some of the structures that remain at Le Hunt to this day. (Link: https://abandonedks.com/lehunt-cement-plant/)
The spirit of an old man could also be reportedly seen near the sidewalks in the former bustling town. Voices whispering to you were also reportedly experienced in the abandoned town.
Cemetery Near Le Hunt
An old cemetery is also near the site of the factory. Some of the graves even date back to the late 1860s. The most prominent graves there belong to the Murphy family. They donated the land for the cemetery.
If you read the tombstones in the cemetery, you can see five are marked graves for children and one person is laid to rest there from the Le Hunt ghost town.
Murder In Le Hunt
A murder also took place in Le Hunt but this was long after the town was used by the workers at the plant. The murder happened last October 30, 1997. One Brian Durnil, 19 years old, was just new in the area. He moved there three months before he died. One Keayon Hadley, also 19, reportedly lured Durnil into the abandoned town. He then beat Durnil and shot him multiple times with a .357-caliber handgun.
Hadley surrendered to the police and was charged with first-degree murder. A few months later, he was convicted of second-degree murder and was sentenced to life. During the trial, the attorney for Hadley claimed that his client and Durnil were out target shooting and that the former was attempting to steal the gun from the latter. The attorney also tried to convince the court that the two teenage girls, who testified against Hadley, were the real perpetrators. Allegedly, the two girls were Satanists and they went to Le Hunt to perform animal and human sacrifices.