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B+History
History · Cimarron Township

Cimarron Township’s post office opened in 1878, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1900.

1878first post office
4on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cimarron Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cimarron Township began

When was Cimarron Township founded?

1878

The Cimarron Township post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 237 in 19002020 census: 2,418148 years

How historic is Cimarron Township?

B+

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Cimarron Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Cimarron Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cimarron Township is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cimarron Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1878, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194020.5% of homes (±8.5) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register4 listings, 17.4 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 68%
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 Cimarron Township’s 17.4 sits above most of its state (78% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Cimarron Township’s past

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

On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Cimarron Township change.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the map

Cimarron Township on the map, 1892 to 1985

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

Cimarron Township on the 1892 USGS mapCimarron Township on the 1968 USGS mapCimarron Township on the 1985 USGS map1892Dodge 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 Cimarron Township.

On the National Register

4 historic places in Cimarron Township

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
2014
Soule Canal-Gray County Segment 2
Soule Canal-Gray County Segment 2
Structures
All 1 listings
Soule Canal-Gray County Segment 2Structure · listed 2014

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

The story

How Cimarron Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cimarron Township.

Read it all →

Cimarron was first settled in 1878. It took its name from a fork in the Santa Fe Trail which led travelers to the Cimarron River.

Between 1887 and 1893, a county seat war took place in Gray County that involved several notable Old West figures, such as Bat Masterson, Bill Tilghman, and Ben Daniels. As a result of the dispute, Cimarron became the permanent county seat of Gray County.

In the wee hours of June 10, 1893, Bill Doolin and four members of his gang robbed a train one-half mile east of Cimarron.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cimarron Township, 1892 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1911In the archive101 South Main, Cimarron KS - 1911
  5. 1939In the archiveKansas farmstead near Cimarron, Kansas
By decade

Cimarron Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1930s9 items
101 South Main, Cimarron KS - 19111911101 South Main, Cimarron KS - 1911Main Street Cimarron Kansas 19141914Main Street Cimarron Kansas 1914Gray County Fair1915Gray County FairKansas farmstead near Cimarron, Kansas1939Kansas farmstead near Cimarron, KansasRailroad station at Cimarron, Kansas1939Railroad station at Cimarron, KansasBoys at 4-H club fair1939Boys at 4-H club fairGirls at 4-H Club fair1939Girls at 4-H Club fairWomen at 4-H Club fair1939Women at 4-H Club fairTightrope performers at 4-H Club fair1939Tightrope performers at 4-H Club fair
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
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.

101 South Main, Cimarron KS - 1911
Retake this view101 South Main, Cimarron KS - 1911, 1911

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Cimarron Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,184

Between 237 and 2,184 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cimarron Township’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Cimarron Township

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

See all →
Dennis HopperAmerican actor and film director · b. 1936
David A. R. WhiteAmerican actor · b. 1970
Bill MillerAmerican athlete who competed mainly in the pol… · b. 1912
J
James KingAmerican operatic tenor · b. 1925
David RickenCatholic bishop · b. 1952
Fred HallAmerican politician in Kansas · b. 1916
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Wettick
1cemetery inside Cimarron Township
Cimarron

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Cimarron Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view101 South Main, Cimarron KS - 1911: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Ingalls Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFairview Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRoyal TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cimarron Township’s history

What year was Cimarron Township founded?

The Cimarron Township post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Cimarron Township rank for history?

Cimarron Township is more historic than 68% 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 Cimarron Township?

4 listings: 1 structure.

How old are the homes in Cimarron Township?

21% of Cimarron Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.5 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1975.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (7), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.