On June 6, 1887, The Moscow Town Company founded the city of Moscow. This city was originally called Mosco. There are two theories of the origin of how this town got it's name. One credits the towns name as being that of a Robin Hood type of outlaw,home address, No Man's Land; the other, and more realistic one, is that it was named after the one of Coronado's officers named Mocoso who was in the expedition that traveled through the southwest in 1541. Moscow was originally located on the NE 1/4, Sec. 16, Twp. 32, Range 35. The president of the company was J.W. Galloway, the Surveyor was L.A. Walton, and the Notary Public was J.T. Hopkins. Moscow flourished and the population quickly reached over two hundred people. Many buildings all of new lumber were made and the "Boom" towns of the 1880's were built. These homes and buildings were built on praires that had only been buffalo pastures not long before. The only native building material available was sod. Schoolhouses and some homes were made from this sod.
Moscow soon got a two story hotel and a newspaper, "The Moscow Review," proclaiming to the world "Opportunities Of The West". An editorial in the newspaper of April 7, 1888 said: "No new town has brighter prospects or offers fairer inducements to business men and investors than Moscow, The Booming Town In Southwest Kansas". The Moscow Post Office was established April 28, 1888 and had been petitioned under the name of Mosco (an abbreviation of one of Coronado's men Moscoso). For an unknown reason the Postal Department attached the letter w. The town really didn't have much of an alternative except to accept this new spelling, but not without the indignation on the part of many townspeople. On the same date, April 28, 1888, the Valparaiso Post Office was moved and changed to Moscow.
Early in the 90's, the "Boom" collapsed and a drought set in. In '93, Moscow slowly started to fade away to nothing. No trace of this prosperous little city was left. Where building and houses once stood, now is just grass covered plains.