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History · Coldwater Township

Coldwater Township’s post office opened in 1884, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1890.

1884first post office
2on the National Register
47%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Coldwater Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Coldwater Township began

When was Coldwater Township founded?

1884

The Coldwater Township post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Evansville (1882), Nescatunga (1884) and Rumsey (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 480 in 18902020 census: 920142 years
Founding year: the first Coldwater Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Coldwater 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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Coldwater Township.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,296 in 1930; 687 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Coldwater Township’s homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Coldwater Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewColdwater, Kans: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Evansville
1882–1896
Nescatunga
1884–1894
Rumsey
1884–1885
Duckworth
1885–1893
Jenkins
1885–1891
18801950today
Gone or out of use
DuckworthlocaleEvansvillelocaleJenkinslocaleNescatungalocaleSeacat Brothers Landing StripairportStark Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Coldwater Township
Crown HillNescatunga

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

People over time

Coldwater Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,296

Peaked at 1,296 in 1930; 687 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Coldwater Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Coldwater Township.

Read it all →

In 1884 G.W. Vickers conceived the idea of laying out a town in the northern part of Comanche County, in company with Timothy Shields, J. P. Grove, Samuel Sisson, C. M. Cade and C. D. Bickford, all from Harper County. They preempted a section of land, had it platted off as a town site and named it after the city of Coldwater, Michigan. Early the following year the county had the required number of inhabitants, who petitioned the governor for its organization, and on February 27, 1885, it was organized with Owen Connaughton, George M. Morris and David T. Mclntire, commissioners and R. A. Grossman, clerk. Coldwater was designated as the county seat.

The first post office in Coldwater was established on October 17, 1884.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Coldwater Township, 1882 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Evansville post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Nescatunga post office opens
  4. 1884Post officeThe Rumsey post office opens
  5. 1885Post officeThe Rumsey post office closes
  6. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1894Post officeThe Nescatunga post office closes
  8. 1896Post officeThe Evansville post office closes
  9. 20th century
  10. 1926In the archiveColdwater, Kans
  11. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 1,296
By decade

Coldwater Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s2 items
Coldwater, Kans1926Coldwater, KansColdwater, Kans1926Coldwater, Kans
1930s–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
Today2 recent
Comanche County Museum2010Comanche County MuseumKSMap-doton-Coldwater2004KSMap-doton-Coldwater
On the map

Coldwater Township on the map, 1892 to 1980

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

Coldwater Township on the 1892 USGS mapColdwater Township on the 1980 USGS map1892Coldwater 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 Coldwater 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.

Coldwater, Kans
Retake this viewColdwater, Kans, 1926

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Coldwater Township

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

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

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Avilla TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPowell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townProtection Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAetna TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDeerhead TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Coldwater Township’s history

What year was Coldwater Township founded?

The Coldwater Township post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.