Ashley Kansas: The Town that Fell into a Fissure
A map of where Ashley, Kansas is said to have been, near Hays, Kansas.
Stories have circulated the internet about a town named Ashley, Kansas that reportedly was consumed by a fissure during an earthquake.
The Story of Ashley, Kansas
On the night of August 16, 1952, the small town of Ashley, Kansas experienced an unimaginable tragedy - it ceased to exist.
The cause of this sudden disappearance was triggered by a massive earthquake that struck the town at 3:28am measuring a staggering 7.9 magnitude.
The quake was so powerful that it was felt throughout the entire state and even across the Midwest. But what made this earthquake truly shocking was its epicenter - directly under Ashley, Kansas.
When state law enforcement arrived at what should have been the outskirts of the farming community, they were greeted by a horrific scene.
Instead of a thriving town, they found a smoldering, burning fissure in the earth that stretched 1,000 yards in length and roughly 500 yards in width. The depth of the fissure was never determined, leaving many questions unanswered.
To make matters worse, after twelve days of searching for the missing 679 residents of Ashley, the state-wide and local search was called off by the Kansas State Government at 9:15pm on August 29, 1952. It was assumed that all 679 residents were dead. However, this tragedy was far from over. At 2:27am on August 30, 1952, another powerful earthquake measuring 7.5 magnitude struck the area. The epicenter was situated under what used to be the location of Ashley, Kansas. Law enforcement investigated the site at 5:32am, only to find that the fissure in the Earth had closed.
The events leading up to the disappearance of the town and its 679 residents were bizarre and unexplainable. Dozens of residents in Ashley, Kansas reported strange occurrences, as did law enforcement from the surrounding area. In the eight days prior to the tragedy, the town experienced a series of unexplainable events that left many residents feeling uneasy.
The town of Ashley was so small that it didn't have its own police department, so when residents reported strange occurrences, they had to call the police office in the neighboring town of Hays.
Witnesses reported seeing small black holes in the sky, while a police officer who attempted to drive to Ashley mysteriously found himself back in Hays without ever reaching his destination, even though the road was straight.
People claimed to have had conversations with loved ones who had passed away years earlier. A fire that was visible from Ashley could not be seen from any other community, and in a bizarre twist, a transcript of a phone call described all of the town's deceased residents returning to life and walking out of the fire. This transcript was dated August 15th, and the town allegedly ceased to exist sometime during the night of August 16th and 17th, just before the magnitude 7.9 earthquake hit on August 17th.
Why it’s likely Ashley, Kansas never existed
There was only one earthquake that was officially recorded in Kansas in 1952, and it occurred in April - several months before the events that are said to have occurred in August.
If an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 to 7.9 had struck the town, it would have undoubtedly become a topic of local, if not national, lore. Earthquakes of this magnitude can cause huge amounts of damage quite far from the epicenter. Yet there is no record of such an earthquake ever occurring in the area.
It's also highly unlikely that the existence of the town itself could have been completely erased from historical records, even if a conspiracy were at play. Ashley, Kansas would have appeared on maps, in texts, and in other records dating back before 1952, which would have been nearly impossible to fully erase or manipulate.
While there may be some who believe that a cover-up was orchestrated to hide the true cause of the town's disappearance, there’s just too much evidence pointing to a hoax.
The final nail in the coffin for this legend is that there was no mention of it online until the story was posted on the Reddit forum r/nosleep, which is dedicated to sharing terrifying fictional tales.
This online community breathed life into the once non-existent town and helped to perpetuate its story, sparking the imaginations of horror fans around the world.
Do you know of any towns that have supposedly disappeared like Ashley, Kansas? Let us know in the comments.
If you enjoyed this article you might like to learn about other mysterious disappearing towns such as Doveland, Wisconsin or Langville, Montana.
