The town was originally 1 mile west of its present location and was named Connersville. A post office was established in Connersville in 1875. When the town was moved in 1883 it was renamed Traer after the city of Traer, Iowa. It was surveyed and platted in March 1888. Traer is located ten miles northwest of Oberlin on the Beaver Creek and the Burlington Railroad. Traer, like Cedar Bluffs, has suffered the ravages of economic changes. It will remain a shipping point, no doubt, as long as the railroad operates.
That Traer was once a busy, prosperous little village is disclosed by an article found in a Topeka paper. "Wheat shipments out of Traer for the last crop so far aggregate 80 car loads, or about 120,000 bushels. It is the biggest business the B.&M. Railroad has handled here in the history of the town. There have also been shipped out 15 cars of hay. The cream industry amounts to 120 cans monthly and 200 cases of eggs are sold."
The post office at Traer was established June 25, 1883, with Jesse W. Crouse as postmaster. It remained in operation until 1971.
It is now an unincorporated community and very much a landmark of times past.
Excerpts taken/adapted from Decatur County-Kansas history book
