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History · Fairview Township

1 of Fairview Township’s places is on the National Register

Most of Fairview Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1892 on.

1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Fairview 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 Fairview Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Fairview Township change.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Fairview Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.A National Historic Landmark1 place on the National Register, including Santa Fe Trail Ruts, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fairview Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairview 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

Fairview Township on the map, 1892 to 1985

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

Fairview Township on the 1892 USGS mapFairview Township on the 1969 USGS mapFairview Township on the 1985 USGS map1892Dodge 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 Fairview Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
HowellSayreSears
Gone or out of use
Fort Mannmilitary

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

The story so far

Fairview Township, in brief

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

Fairview Township is a township in Ford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 277.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 290 to 277 (-4%).

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

Timeline

Fairview Township, 1892 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1895Post officeThe Howell post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1916Post officeThe Howell post office closes
  6. 1963LandmarkSanta Fe Trail Ruts named a National Historic Landmark
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 National Register

1 historic place in Fairview Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmark
1
Santa Fe Trail Ruts
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1966
Santa Fe Trail Ruts
Santa Fe Trail Ruts★
Sites★ landmark
★ Landmark
Santa Fe Trail RutsSite

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Fairview Township

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

See all →
Dennis HopperAmerican actor and film director · b. 1936
David A. R. WhiteAmerican actor · b. 1970
Bill MillerAmerican athlete who competed mainly in the pol… · b. 1912
J
James KingAmerican operatic tenor · b. 1925
David RickenCatholic bishop · b. 1952
Fred HallAmerican politician in Kansas · b. 1916
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Dodge TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCimarron Township4 historic placesB+Richland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Fairview Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Fairview Township?

One place: the Santa Fe Trail Ruts (listed 1966).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.