Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Elk Falls Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Elk Falls Township

Elk Falls Township’s post office opened in 1870, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Elk Falls Pratt Truss Bridge. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1880.

1870first post office
2on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Elk Falls Township began

When was Elk Falls Township founded?

1870

The Elk Falls Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 513 in 18802020 census: 197156 years
Founding year: the first Elk Falls Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Elk Falls 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 Elk Falls Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18854 editions of the USGS map, 1885 to 1985. Watch Elk Falls Township change.Old housesHalf of Elk Falls Township’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elk Falls Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elk Falls 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
On the map

Elk Falls Township on the map, 1885 to 1985

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

Elk Falls Township on the 1885 USGS mapElk Falls Township on the 1962 USGS mapElk Falls Township on the 1979 USGS mapElk Falls Township on the 1985 USGS map1885Sedan 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 Elk Falls Township.

The story

How Elk Falls Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Elk Falls Township.

Read it all →

The first European-American house was built at Elk Falls in 1870, and a post office was opened that same year. Elk Falls was named for a waterfall on the Elk River, near where the town developed. Two early settlers in the rural community were the widow Prudence Crandall (who took back her maiden name after her husband died), an educator from Connecticut who had established the Canterbury Female Boarding School in the 1830s for African-American girls and young women; and her brother Hezekiah. They both died here and were buried in the town cemetery.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Elk Falls Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
KSMap-doton-Elk Falls2004KSMap-doton-Elk Falls
On the National Register

2 historic places in Elk Falls 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
first listed
1994
Elk Falls Pratt Truss Bridge
Elk Falls Pratt Truss Bridge, built 1892
Structures
Elk Falls Pratt Truss BridgeBuilt 1892

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

People over time

Elk Falls Township, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 513

Between 107 and 513 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Wildcat TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLongton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHoward Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLafayette 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 Elk Falls Township’s history

What year was Elk Falls Township founded?

The Elk Falls Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Elk Falls Township?

2 listings: 1 structure.

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 (1), Wikidata (1), 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.