MANDOVIA
Mandovia was laid out as a town in 1858 by Dr. George W. Cooper on the south side of Garnett. Only three log cabins were built on the site. A lithographed map had been circulated in the east and many lots sold. Whenever Colonel W.A. Johnson spoke of the town as having some “historical notoriety” in his history. An excellent lithographed map was drawn up and circulated in the east to encourage people to buy lots in the town.
By 1860 the town had been dropped and only known to live on paper. An addition to Garnett is shown on some maps as the Mandovia addition, on the south side of Garnett from 12th Street south to the South Lake, bounded on the west side by Highway 59 and the east side by Oak Street and the old railroad bed.
TROY
Three newcomers arrived in Anderson County were William C. Hall, Isaac N. Locke and Joseph Barclay and they selected a site just north of Garnett to build a town and named it Troy. They presented, on August 7th their petition and plat to the probate judge claiming for filing the north half of section 30, township 20, range 20 for their town site.
On September 8th the town site was pre-empted by George Wilson, probate judge. His reasoning was the proximity of the two towns. Troy’s south boundary was the north boundary of Garnett. In December, 1857, the two town companies consolidated, under the title of Town Company of Garnett. An interesting highlight is the old Garnett High School was located in the town site of the original Troy.
Shannon
Shannon was laid out as a town site a little over a mile south of Garnett in 1857. Dr. Preston Bowen, Garnett’s first merchant, visualized a busy city on the prairie. It was named Shannon after the second territorial governor, Wilson Shannon. It was to become one of Garnett’s biggest rivals for the county seat.
The summer of 1858 many more settlers were entering Anderson County and discussion of the need for a county seat started. A post office was established in Shannon the same year. Dr. Bowen received a contract with the board of county supervisors in June, 1858, to erect a jail and courthouse in Shannon. They were to be ready for occupancy by June, 1859. Dr. Bowen was to build these buildings at his own expense and he cut the heavy timbers on his own land for the building.
The jail was completed by the fall of 1858 and work was started on the courthouse. There was much discontent over the county seat selection and the territorial legislature decided there would be an election held to decide where the county seat would be located. The election was won by Garnett and became county seat in 1859.
Shannon’s only fame was being the county seat for only a short period of time. The new jail ended up being a warehouse on the Bowen farm south of Garnett. The post office remained in Shannon until 1860 and then closed. Today there is no sign the town of Shannon ever existed.