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History · Bloomington Township

12% of Bloomington Township’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Little Walnut River Pratt Truss Bridge. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1961 on.

1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bloomington Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Bloomington Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bloomington Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bloomington Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewStone Smokehouse: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Bloomington Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bloomington Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Bloomington Township is a township in Butler County, Kansas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 492.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 535 to 495 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Bloomington Township, 1885 to 1961

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885BuiltLittle Walnut River Pratt Truss Bridge is built
  3. 1886Post officeThe Numa post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904Post officeThe Numa post office closes
  6. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bloomington Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Stone SmokehouseDate?Stone Smokehouse
On the map

Bloomington Township on the map, 1961 to 1979

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bloomington Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bloomington Township on the 1961 USGS mapBloomington Township on the 1979 USGS map1961Gordon sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bloomington Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Stone Smokehouse
Retake this viewStone Smokehouse

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bloomington Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Bloomington Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2003
Little Walnut River Pratt Truss Bridge
Little Walnut River Pratt Truss Bridge, built 1885
Structures
Little Walnut River Pratt Truss BridgeBuilt 1885

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Bloomington Township

Nobody well known was born in Bloomington Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Kevin SchmidtAmerican actor · b. 1988
Edward R. WeidleinAmerican chemist · b. 1887
E
Ernie BlandinAmerican football player · b. 1919
K
Kristey WilliamsAmerican politician · b. 1970
E
Emily MorganAmerican nurse · b. 1878
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Numa, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
BloomingtonBois d' Arc
Gone or out of use
NumalocaleTadlock Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Bloomington Township
Bogle

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Logan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSpring TownshipIts storyC−Walnut TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRock Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bloomington Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Bloomington Township?

One place: the Little Walnut River Pratt Truss Bridge (listed 2003).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.