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History · Garfield Township

11% of Garfield Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1974 on and the census since 1890.

0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Garfield Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages7 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Garfield Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Garfield Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Garfield Township’s homes were built before 1946.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Mason
1879–1883
Loyal
1882–1899
Cowland
1883–1886
Clawson
1886–1888
Essex
1886–1918
Kalvesta
1886–today
Ravanna
1886–1922
Eminence
1887–1942
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
KalvestaRavanna
Gone or out of use
ClawsonlocaleCreolalocaleCuylerlocaleEminencelocaleEssexlocaleLoyallocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Garfield Township
EminenceGarfield

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

Help out

Start Garfield Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Garfield 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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The story

How Garfield Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Garfield Township.

Read it all →

Historically the Garfield Township was organized as Garfield County in 1887. In 1893, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the county was illegally organized for not having the required 432 square miles (1,120 km2) of area, and the county was annexed to Finney County, forming the current township. The population at the 1890 census was 881.

Garfield County was created by an act of the Kansas state legislature on March 23, 1887. It consisted of what is now the eastern portion of Finney County north of Gray County. The county was named after President James A. Garfield, who had been assassinated six years earlier.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Garfield Township, 1879 to 1974

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Mason post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Loyal post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Mason post office closes
  5. 1883Post officeThe Cowland post office opens
  6. 1886Post officeThe Cowland post office closes
  7. 1899Post officeThe Loyal post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1974On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

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On the map

Garfield Township on the map, 1974 to 1985

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

Garfield Township on the 1974 USGS mapGarfield Township on the 1985 USGS map1974Ravanna sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Garfield Township.

People over time

Garfield Township, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 881

Between 288 and 881 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Garfield Township

Nobody well known was born in Garfield 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
Victor OrtizAmerican boxer · b. 1987
J
James KingAmerican operatic tenor · b. 1925
Roy RomerAmerican politician · b. 1928
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Dighton Township1 historic placeB−Alamota Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPleasant Valley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Roscoe Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLogan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Garfield 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, 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.