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B−History
History · Dighton Township

Dighton Township’s post office opened in 1879, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is . Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1900 on.

1879first post office
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Dighton Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Dighton Township began

When was Dighton Township founded?

1879

The Dighton Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Sutton (1886) and Amy (1906), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,144147 years

How historic is Dighton Township?

B−

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Dighton Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dighton Township is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dighton Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1879, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194015.0% of homes (±7.4) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 10.5 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 53%
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 Dighton Township’s 10.5 sits above most of its state (65% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.4 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 Dighton 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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Dighton Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Dighton Township’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dighton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dighton 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 viewDighton, Kansas: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

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

Sutton
1886–1928
Amy
1906–1954
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Amy
Gone or out of use
Cold HilllocaleSuttonlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Dighton Township
DightonSutton

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

The story

How Dighton Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dighton Township.

Read it all →

The Homestead Act of 1862 offered 160 acres (0.65 km2) of land in the American West, previously owned by railroads, to homesteaders who could live on the land for five years. Drawn west by the promise of free, fertile land, pioneer settlers arrived in Kansas starting in 1869. In 1879, W.A. Watson arrived at the town site, and a post office was established. In 1885, there were three houses and seven voters in town. Lane County became a county in 1886, with Dighton as its county seat. By 1900, the population was 194, and by 1910 it had grown to 370, and the town had banks; a flour mill; a grain elevator; two newspapers; public schools; a hotel; merchants; Baptist, Catholic, and Methodist churches; telegraph service; a band and telephones.

Chapters19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dighton Township, 1886 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Sutton post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archiveDighton, Kansas
  5. 1906Post officeThe Amy post office opens
  6. 1928Post officeThe Sutton post office closes
  7. 1954Post officeThe Amy post office closes
By decade

Dighton Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Dighton, Kansasc. 1900Dighton, Kansas
1910s–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
Today3 recent
Old school bus in Dighton KS2026Old school bus in Dighton KSOld school bus in Dighton KS cropped2026Old school bus in Dighton KS croppedDighton, KS2025Dighton, KS
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.

Dighton, Kansas
Retake this viewDighton, Kansas, c. 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Dighton Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
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.

Alamota Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGarfield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWilson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCheyenne TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Dighton Township’s history

What year was Dighton Township founded?

The Dighton Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Dighton Township rank for history?

Dighton Township is more historic than 53% 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.

How old are the homes in Dighton Township?

15% of Dighton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1958.

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 (4), Wikidata (1), 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.