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Mirage

Ghost town · Rawlins County, Kansas

Chardon quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1951, 1:62,500)
Chardon quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1951, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Mirage is a ghost town in Rawlins County, Kansas, recorded as place in Kansas, United States. It is one of 7 former communities in Rawlins County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 4th among the 59 Kansas counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Mirage as a historical populated place: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 39.6256° N, 101.2367° W.

Key facts

Elevation3,269 ft
Nearest living townMcDonald, KS
Distance to it13.1 miles
Coordinates39.62556, -101.23667

Open the location on a map

Then and now

Drag the slider: the old USGS map on the left, the same ground from the air today on the right. Both cover the same 1.9-mile square centred on the recorded location.

Mirage today, aerial view
Chardon quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1951, 1:62,500)

Left: Chardon quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1951, 1:62,500), U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection. Right: The same ground today: NAIP aerial imagery, USDA Farm Service Agency, National Agriculture Imagery Program (via USGS). Both public domain.

What's there now

Mirage is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is McDonald, KS (population 190), about 13.1 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 3,269 feet above sea level. The aerial view above shows what covers the ground today. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Mirage?

Mirage is in Rawlins County, Kansas, at 39.6256, -101.2367.

How many ghost towns are in Rawlins County?

Rawlins County, Kansas has 7 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-06.