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History · Custer Township

50% of Custer Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1978 on.

0on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Custer 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 Custer Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Custer Township.Old housesHalf of Custer Township’s homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Custer Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Custer 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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

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

Jackson
1879–1889
Stephen
1883–1888
18701950today
Gone or out of use
JacksonlocaleStephenlocale

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

The story so far

Custer Township, in brief

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

Custer Township is a township in Decatur County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 48.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 25 to 48 (+92%).

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

Timeline

Custer Township, 1879 to 1978

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Jackson post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Stephen post office opens
  4. 1888Post officeThe Stephen post office closes
  5. 1889Post officeThe Jackson post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1978On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Custer Township on the map, 1978 to 1985

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

Custer Township on the 1978 USGS mapCuster Township on the 1985 USGS map1978Dresden North 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 Custer Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Custer Township

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

See all →
N
Norman MalcolmAmerican philosopher · b. 1911
Gil DoddsAmerican middle distance runner and former worl… · b. 1918
Elden AukerAmerican baseball player · b. 1910
D
Dewey AdkinsAmerican baseball player · b. 1918
Pegeen FitzgeraldAmerican radio broadcaster · b. 1911
T
Travis SchlenkAmerican sports executive (born 1976/1977) · b. 1976
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Jennings TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDresden TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSummit TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCenter TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Custer Township’s history

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 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.