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History · Center Township

34% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1951 on.

0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

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.

Lost villages8 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Center Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Center Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Center Township’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

Eight other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Rawlins
1879–1890
Beaverton
1880–1900
Bird
1880–1880
Sappaton
1884–1888
Ilion
1886–1893
Blakeman
1887–1952
Weeks
1887–1887
Chardon
1888–1939
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BlakemanChardon
Gone or out of use
BeavertonlocaleChardon SchoolschoolEnterprise SchoolschoolHarmony SchoolschoolHawkeye SchoolschoolHillside SchoolschoolIlion SchoolschoolIllionlocalePrairie Center SchoolschoolRawlinslocaleShawnee Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Center Township
BlakemanChardonEnterpriseIlion

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

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.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Center Township, in brief

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

Center Township is a township in Rawlins County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 308.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 268 to 308 (+15%).

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

Timeline

Center Township, 1879 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Rawlins post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Beaverton post office opens
  4. 1880Post officeThe Bird post office opens
  5. 1880Post officeThe Bird post office closes
  6. 1890Post officeThe Rawlins post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900Post officeThe Beaverton post office closes
  9. 1951On 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

Center Township on the map, 1951 to 1985

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

Center Township on the 1951 USGS mapCenter Township on the 1978 USGS mapCenter Township on the 1985 USGS map1951Chardon sheet · 1:62,500

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Center Township

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

See all →
Samuel RameyAmerican operatic bass · b. 1942
Sheila FrahmAmerican politician · b. 1945
Mike HaydenAmerican politician · b. 1944
Tom HawkAmerican politician · b. 1946
Rudy WendelinAmerican artist · b. 1910
Wayne MunnAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1896
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Ludell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMirage TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDriftwood TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRocewood Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRovohl TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHerl TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBarrett TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Center 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.