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History · Fairfield Township

Fairfield Township’s post office opened in 1875

Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1890.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Fairfield Township began

When was Fairfield Township founded?

1875

The Fairfield Township post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Fairfield (1875) and Hawley (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 228 in 18902020 census: 26151 years
Founding year: the first Fairfield Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Fairfield 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 Fairfield Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 447 in 1940; 26 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Fairfield Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fairfield Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairfield 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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People over time

Fairfield Township, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 447

Peaked at 447 in 1940; 26 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Fairfield
1875–1880
Hawley
1880–1909
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Hawleylocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fairfield Township
Cross PlainsMichaelis

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

The story so far

Fairfield Township, in brief

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

Fairfield Township is a township in Russell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, it had a population of 31.

Its first post office opened in 1875. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 31 to 26 (-16%).

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

Timeline

Fairfield Township, 1875 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Fairfield post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Fairfield post office closes
  4. 1880Post officeThe Hawley post office opens
  5. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1909Post officeThe Hawley post office closes
  8. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 447
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.
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On the map

Fairfield Township on the map, 1896 to 1985

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

Fairfield Township on the 1896 USGS mapFairfield Township on the 1985 USGS map1896Russell 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 Fairfield Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Center TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrant TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLincoln TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Fairfield Township’s history

What year was Fairfield Township founded?

The Fairfield Township post office opened in 1875, 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 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.