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History · Durham Park Township

Durham Park Township’s post office opened in 1874, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on and the census since 1910.

1874first post office
0on the National Register
45%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Steve Meirowsky · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Durham Park Township began

When was Durham Park Township founded?

1874

The Durham Park Township post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Durham Park (1874), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 268 in 19102020 census: 213152 years
Founding year: the first Durham Park Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Durham Park 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 Durham Park Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18894 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1985. Watch Durham Park Township change.Old housesHalf of Durham Park Township’s homes were built before 1944.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Durham Park Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Durham Park Township on the map, 1889 to 1985

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

Durham Park Township on the 1889 USGS mapDurham Park Township on the 1894 USGS mapDurham Park Township on the 1971 USGS mapDurham Park Township on the 1985 USGS map1889Newton 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 Durham Park Township.

The story

How Durham Park Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Durham Park Township.

Read it all →

In 1806, Zebulon Pike led the Pike Expedition westward from St Louis, Missouri, of which part of their journey followed the Cottonwood River through Marion County near the current cities of Florence, Marion, Durham.

From the 1820s to the 1870s, one of the most significant land routes in the United States was the Santa Fe Trail. It was located about 1 mile (1.5 km) northwest of Durham. The trail was active across Marion County from 1821 to 1866.

In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. In 1855, Marion County was established within the Kansas Territory, which included the land for modern day Durham.

ChaptersEarly history19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Durham Park Township, 1874 to 1889

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Durham Park post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Durham Park post office closes
  4. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Durham Park Township, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Marion County2013Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Marion Co…MapDowntown durham kansas 8-7-20102010Downtown durham kansas 8-7-2010Detailed map of Durham, Kansas2010Detailed map of Durham, KansasMapMap of Marion Co, Ks, USA2005Map of Marion Co, Ks, USAMapKSMap-doton-Durham2004KSMap-doton-Durham
People over time

Durham Park Township, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 288

Between 89 and 288 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Durham Park, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Durham Oil and Gas FieldoilfieldDurham ParklocaleMerry-Go-Round SchoolschoolWarren Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Durham Park Township
Durham ParkFrick

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Risley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Durham Park Township’s history

What year was Durham Park Township founded?

The Durham Park Township post office opened in 1874, 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 →
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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 Wikimedia Commons (5), 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.