Learn more about Luray by following the links below:

Lura Post Office

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      Luray was named for a buffalo hunter's lost love. A group of buffalo hunters camping along Wolf Creek in northern Russell County,  Kansas decided to stay and homestead in the area. Since mail had to be picked up by someone traveling 30 miles these homesteaders saw a need for a post office/trading post.  They decided not to wait for the government to establish a post office so set about to build their own.  The name Lura was suggested for the trading post  by a hunter named Alan for the lost love that forsook him in the East. Alan decided to move on but the name Lura stuck. David Schurr, a Civil War vet and homesteader nearby Wolf Creek, donated some land for the trading post and each homesteader donated money.  The Luray Post Office and Trading Post  built by money from subscriptions became the first private post office west of the Mississippi to be established.
     Since the homesteaders had to travel 18 miles to the nearest railroad to ship their livestock and crops, they saw a need for a railroad. Many wanted the railroad to go by the Lura Post Office and a  wealthy man from the east named Leeson bought land east of the Lura Post Office and had the land surveyed and platted into the town of Leeson.  Fighting for a depot ensued but the railroad chose a site that belonged to a vet, John Van Sycoc,  for the site of their depot.  The railroad added a Y to the name and it became the Luray Depot. Soon after that the city of Luray was platted in April 1887. The post office moved to Luray and renamed the Luray Post Office.