From Bazine Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Bazine Township began
When was Bazine Township founded?
1874
The Bazine Township post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Bonnie Doon (1880) and Sodville (1885), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 423 in 19302020 census: 394152 years
Founding year: the first Bazine Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Bazine Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bazine Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Ness sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bazine Township.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Bonnie Doon
1880–1887
Sodville
1885–1887
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Bonnie DoonlocaleSodvillelocale
1cemetery inside Bazine Township
Bazine
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Bazine was a station and shipping point on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The community was named for the French general François Achille Bazaine.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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 (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.