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History · Freedom Township

33% of Freedom Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1896 on.

0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Freedom 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 Freedom Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Freedom Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Freedom Township’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Freedom Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Freedom 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
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.

Easdale
1878–1887
Munjor
1881–1941
Pfeifer
1887–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
MunjorPfeifer
Gone or out of use
EasdalelocaleStecklein Fieldairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Freedom Township
Holy CrossSaint Francis

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

The story

How Freedom Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Freedom Township.

Read it all →

The founder of the Victoria Colony, George Grant, built his home in the style of an English country house on the banks of Big Creek in 1873.

Volga Germans began settling in the area and founded Pfeifer in August 1876.

A post office was opened at Easdale in 1878. The post office was moved two miles south across the Smoky Hill River to Pfeifer in 1887.

In 2023, the townships of Ellis County were redrawn. Freedom Township absorbed Wheatland Township, which became West Freedom within the township.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Freedom Township, 1878 to 1941

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Easdale post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Munjor post office opens
  4. 1887Post officeThe Easdale post office closes
  5. 1887Post officeThe Pfeifer post office opens
  6. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 20th century
  8. 1941Post officeThe Munjor post office closes
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

Freedom Township on the map, 1896 to 1985

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

Freedom Township on the 1896 USGS mapFreedom Township on the 1985 USGS map1896Hays 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 Freedom Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Freedom Township

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

See all →
John L. Allen Jr.American journalist and writer · b. 1965
Ron BakerAmerican basketball player · b. 1993
J
Jeff ColyerAmerican politician in Kansas · b. 1960
Kathryn O'Loughlin McCarthyAmerican politician · b. 1894
Henry White EdgertonUnited States federal judge · b. 1888
Marlies GipsonBasketball player · b. 1987
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Big Creek Township2 historic placesC+Herzog Township4 historic placesB+Illinois TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPleasantdale Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWinterset TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Freedom Township’s history

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 Wikipedia, 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.