The story
Read it all →How Center Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Center Township.
Center Township (spelled historically Centre) was organized in 1856.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Center Township
44% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the George Kinkead Barn. Below: maps from 1926 on and old-book passages.
3on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Center Township’s history
How historic is Center Township?
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What drives the grade ↓Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Center Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Center Township is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs put Center Township near the top nationally; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Center Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194043.9% of homes (±9.4) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register3 listings, 19 historic buildings, 105 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Among the top 1%
NewerOlder
Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Center Township’s 105 sits above most of its state (95% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 19 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.4 points).
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Center Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Center Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Center Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.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.
Charlestown
Charleston
18501940today
Gone or out of use
Aberle SchoolschoolChapple SchoolschoolCharlestonlocaleClimax SchoolschoolEclipse SchoolschoolKlipple SchoolschoolMosquito Creek SchoolschoolOld Sixty SchoolschoolPottawatomie SchoolschoolTroy AirportairportTroy Junctionlocale
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Center Township
CharlestonCourter - RitcheyMount OliveSaint Charles
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Center Township in 1868
Passages that mention Center Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Doniphan County, Kansas, history and directory for 1868-91868 · page 266Read the page →
Read the text
District No. 6. Has one school house, situated 6 miles northwest of Trov, Center Township, has an attendance of 20 scholars. District No. 7. Has one school house, situated in Wolf Tiiver Township, has an attendance of about 17 scholars.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Doniphan County, Kansas, history and directory for 1868-91868 · page 268Read the page →
Read the text
District No. — Situated in Center Township, has one school house and 74 scholars. District No. — Has one good school house, capable of seating 100 scholars, is situated at Geary City, in "Wayne Township ; 60 scholars in district, attendance 25 scholars.
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.
Timeline
Center Township, 1857 to 1926
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Add from your albumOn the map
Center Township on the map, 1926 to 1972
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Center Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1926Oregon sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Center Township.
On the National Register
3 listings protect 19 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
19
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
George Kinkead Barn
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Center Township
Nobody well known was born in Center Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Washington Township2 historic placesA−Burr Oak Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarion Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWayne Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townIowa Township11 historic placesA+Wolf River Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townIndependence Township4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Center Township’s history
How does Center Township rank for history?
Center Township is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Center Township?
3 listings: 1 building, among them the George Kinkead Barn (listed 1987, the first). 19 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Center Township?
44% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.4 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1953.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.