The story
Read it all →How Homestead Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Homestead Township.
A post office under the name Homestead opened in 1876 and was discontinued in 1913.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Homestead Township
Homestead Township’s post office opened in 1876
Below: maps from 1898 on.
1876first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Homestead Township began
When was Homestead Township founded?
1876
The Homestead Township post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Homestead (1876), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 40150 years
Founding year: the first Homestead Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Homestead Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Homestead Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Homestead Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Homestead Township on the map, 1898 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Homestead Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1898Cottonwood Falls sheet · 1:125,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Homestead Township.
Timeline
Homestead Township, 1876 to 1913
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1876Post officeThe Homestead post office opens
- 1898
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1913Post officeThe Homestead 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.
Add from your albumFamous people
See all →Famous people close to Homestead Township
Nobody well known was born in Homestead Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and burying grounds
Another post office, Homestead, opened and closed inside today’s town.
1cemetery inside Homestead Township
Homestead
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Cedar TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMatfield Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCottonwood Township6 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBazaar TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Homestead Township’s history
What year was Homestead Township founded?
The Homestead Township post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.