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History · Hickory Township

Hickory Township’s post office opened in 1877, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1888 on.

1877first post office
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Hickory Township began

When was Hickory Township founded?

1877

The Hickory Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Brownlow (1871) and Hickory (1877), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 96149 years
Founding year: the first Hickory Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hickory 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 Hickory Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18884 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 1990. Watch Hickory Township change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Hickory Township.Old housesHalf of Hickory Township’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hickory Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hickory 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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On the map

Hickory Township on the map, 1888 to 1990

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

Hickory Township on the 1888 USGS mapHickory Township on the 1964 USGS mapHickory Township on the 1985 USGS mapHickory Township on the 1990 USGS map1888Eldorado 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 Hickory Township.

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.

Brownlow
1871–1876
Hickory
1877–1886
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Brandt-Sensenbaugh Oil FieldoilfieldFerrell Oil FieldoilfieldFerrell South Oil Fieldoilfield
1cemetery inside Hickory Township
Brownlow

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

The story

How Hickory Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hickory Township.

Read it all →

Hickory Township was organized in 1875. Its early history is retold by J.O. Evertson, an early settler, in Vol. P. Mooney's, History of Butler County Kansas, Standard Publishing Company, 1916.

According to Evertson, the first settler was a man by the name of Myers. He and his two wives settled at the forks of two branches of Hickory Creek. Subsequently, in 1868, J. A. McGinnis and his brother A. F. McGinnis and family established their claims in the township. J.A. Armstrong then arrived and took up Myers claim, compelling him to move on, along with his two wives. Armstrong would establish a general store at a location called Old Brownlow, which since has disappeared with the exception of Brownlow Cemetery which rests on a rise in the hill.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hickory Township, 1871 to 1888

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Brownlow post office opens
  3. 1876Post officeThe Brownlow post office closes
  4. 1877Post officeThe Hickory post office opens
  5. 1886Post officeThe Hickory post office closes
  6. 1888On 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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Famous people

Famous people close to Hickory Township

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

See all →
Roger MarshallAmerican politician · b. 1960
Mort WalkerAmerican comic strip cartoonist · b. 1923
Steve BrodieAmerican actor · b. 1919
Jack MarshallAmerican musician, conductor, composer · b. 1921
Maude FultonAmerican actress · b. 1881
R
Rex A. WadeAmerican historian · b. 1936
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Logan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGlencoe Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBeaumont3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOtter Creek Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Hickory Township’s history

What year was Hickory Township founded?

The Hickory Township post office opened in 1877, 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 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.