Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1946 on and the census since 1880.
The Kansas Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Warrenton (1883) and Inclose (1893), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kansas Township’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,049 in 1900; 670 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kansas Township’s Wikipedia page.
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Kansas Township.
A post office called Kansas has been in operation since 1855. The town was named after the Kansas Territory.
In or before 1972, students and their physical education teacher at the high school invented a game called Deckerball. This has been credited as being the possible origin of the very similar game Wallyball.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Kansas Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
at that place, and the other built in the edge of Kansas Township, at the place called Pleasant Hill, a few miles southwest of Grand View. Of this latter, further notice will be given in the history of Kansas Township. The building erected in Dudley was completed in 1867. It is a very substantial brick edi¬ fice, 32x40 feet in size, and cost $2,500. The organization of the churcfi was accomplished by. Revs. Thomas Goodman and William Patterson, in the ware¬ house a short time previous to the occupancy of the church. Rev. George Sweeney, of Kansas, preaches once a month. The society is not as strong as
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
at that place, and the other built in the edge of Kansas Township, at the place called Pleasant Hill, a few miles southwest of Grand View. Of this latter, further notice will be given in the history of Kansas Township. The building erected in Dudley was completed in 1867. It is a very substantial brick edi¬ fice, 32x40 feet in size, and cost $2,500. The organization of the church was accomplished by Revs. Thomas Goodman and William Patterson, in the ware¬ house a short time previous to the occupancy of the church. Rev. George Sweeney, of Kansas, preaches once a month. The society is not as strong as
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
at that place, and the other built in the edge of Kansas Township, at the place called Pleasant Hill, a few miles southwest of Grand View. Of this latter, further notice will be given in the history of Kansas Township. The building erected in Dudley was completed in 1867. It is a very substantial brick, edifice, 32x40 feet in size, and cost $2,500. The organization of the church was accomplished by Revs. Thomas Goodman and William Patterson, in the warehouse a short time previous to the occupancy of the church. Rev. George Sweeney, of Kansas, preaches once a month. The society is not as strong as
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The oldest living resident of the township is John K. Boyer, who was born in Kansas Township in 1824, having lived here all his life — a period of fiftyfive years. Upon the organization of the county, in 1823, the territory now embraced in Kansas Township, with Grand View, and parts of Sims, Paris, Edgar, Buck and Embarrass, constituted the township of Fairfield. At the first, this one-third of the county was designated the Fairfield Precinct, and its voting-place was Paris. By and by a voting-place was established at Grand View, and the precinct was made to embrace that township and Kansas. The
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kansas Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kansas Township.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Kansas Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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