Its Register listings are the Pennsylvania Avenue Rock Creek Bridge and the Charles M. Ball House. Its Register listings are the Pennsylvania Avenue Rock Creek Bridge and the Charles M. Ball House. Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1906 on.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1869. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Independence Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Independence Township is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Independence Township’s overall grade.
Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Independence Township’s 6.6 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±14.3 points). Two sources give 1869.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Independence Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Osage Indians had settled much of southeast Kansas over the course of the 1830s and 40s and sold land claims over the course of the 1860s to incoming American homesteaders and moved into Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) where they became settled farmers, selling their whole remaining claim to the United States government in 1870 for $1.25 an acre.
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.
In 1869, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Independence Township’s post office opened in 1869.
How does Independence Township rank for history?
Independence Township is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Independence Township?
Two places: the Pennsylvania Avenue Rock Creek Bridge (listed 1985) and the Charles M. Ball House (2011).
How old are the homes in Independence Township?
32% of Independence Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±14.3 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1964.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
1906
1906
1909
