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History · Cawker Township

39% of Cawker Township’s homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1962 on.

2on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Cawker 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 writtenNo old photos of Cawker Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Cawker Township’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cawker Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Cawker Township, in brief

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

Cawker Township is a township in Mitchell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 516.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 522 in 2010, 516 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Cawker Township, 1908 to 1962

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908Post officeThe Waconda Springs post office opens
  3. 1955Post officeThe Waconda Springs post office closes
  4. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Cawker Township on the map, 1962 to 1980

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

Cawker Township on the 1962 USGS mapCawker Township on the 1980 USGS map1962Cawker City 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 Cawker Township.

On the National Register

2 listings protect 15 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
15
each building in a district counts

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Cawker Township

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

See all →
R
Rodger WardAmerican racecar driver · b. 1921
E
Edward L. KesselAmerican biologist · b. 1904
Elsie Lincoln BenedictAmerican psychologist · b. 1885
Joe MillerAmerican politician in Alaska · b. 1967
Mary Nicholas ArnoldyRoman Catholic nun and mathematician · b. 1893
Nancy MoritzAmerican judge · b. 1960
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Cawker City AirportairportWaconda Springslocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cawker Township
Prairie GroveSaints Peter and Paul

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.

Glen Elder Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCarr Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRoss Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townErving TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAthens TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cawker Township’s history

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 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.