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Davis MemorialDavis Memorial · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0
–Not graded
History · Hiawatha Township

Hiawatha Township dates to 1857, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Davis Memorial. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1961 on, and the census since 1880.

1857founded
1on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hiawatha Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hiawatha Township began

When was Hiawatha Township founded?

1857

Hiawatha Township dates its founding to 1857 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 1,375 in 18802020 census: 616169 years
Founding year: Wikidata.The full story ↓

What stands out about Hiawatha 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 writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hiawatha Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hiawatha Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHiawatha, Kans: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Hiawatha Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hiawatha Township.

Read it all →

B.L. Rider reportedly was responsible for naming Hiawatha, taking the young Indian's name from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, The Song of Hiawatha. In the poem is legendary Onondaga and Mohawk Indian leader Hiawatha. Adjacent to the former Ioway-Sac reservation and the present-day Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Hiawatha is called Hári Wáta in Ioway, meaning "I am looking far away".

Hiawatha was founded in 1857, making it one of the oldest towns in the state. John M. Coe, John P. Wheller, and Thomas J. Drummond were instrumental in organizing the city, and the site was staked out February 17, 1857. Hiawatha became the Brown County Seat in 1858, and the first school opened in 1870.

ChaptersEtymology19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hiawatha Township, 1857 to 1988

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857
    FoundingHiawatha Township is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909In the archiveHiawatha, Kans
  5. 1931BuiltDavis Memorial is built
  6. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1988In the archiveDon's barber pole, Hiawatha, Kansas
By decade

Hiawatha Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Hiawatha, Kans1909Hiawatha, Kans
1910s–1970snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1980s3 items
Don's barber pole, Hiawatha, Kansas1988Don's barber pole, Hiawatha, KansasPat's Shoe Repair, Oregon Street, Hiawatha, Kansas1988Pat's Shoe Repair, Oregon Street, Hiawatha, KansasPat's Shoe Repair, Oregon Street, Hiawatha, Kansas1988Pat's Shoe Repair, Oregon Street, Hiawatha, Kansas
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Hiawatha, Kansas2012Hiawatha, Kansas150th Anniversary of U S Department of Agriculture-Historical imagery (20120105-OC-AMW-0475)2009150th Anniversary of U S Department of Agriculture-Hi…
On the map

Hiawatha Township on the map, 1961 to 1990

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

Hiawatha Township on the 1961 USGS mapHiawatha Township on the 1985 USGS mapHiawatha Township on the 1990 USGS map1961Robinson 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 Hiawatha Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hiawatha, Kans
Retake this viewHiawatha, Kans, 1909

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hiawatha Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hiawatha Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Davis Memorial
Davis Memorial, built 1931
Objects
Davis MemorialBuilt 1931

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

People over time

Hiawatha Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,702

Between 1,375 and 3,702 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Mission TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRobinson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWalnut TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPadonia TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Hiawatha Township’s history

What year was Hiawatha Township founded?

In 1857, according to Wikidata. the census of 1880 counted 1,375 people here.

What is on the National Register in Hiawatha Township?

One place: the Davis Memorial (listed 1977).

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 (6), 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.