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History · Independence Township

44% of Independence Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1870.

0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Independence Township’s archive · credits on each photo

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.

On the map since 18894 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1983. Watch Independence Township change.Boom and bustPeaked at 12,782 in 1930; 8,548 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · On the map

Independence Township on the map, 1889 to 1983

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

Independence Township on the 1889 USGS mapIndependence Township on the 1894 USGS mapIndependence Township on the 1966 USGS mapIndependence Township on the 1983 USGS map1889Marysville 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 Independence Township.

People over time

Independence Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 12,782

Peaked at 12,782 in 1930; 8,548 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

The story

How Independence Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Independence Township.

Read it all →

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.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Independence Township, 1880 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archiveIndependence, Kansas
  3. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906In the archiveBurning well at
  6. 1913In the archiveProof that Prohibition Prohibits in Kansas, Destroying $6,000.00 worth of liquor in front…
  7. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 12,782
By decade

Independence Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s7 items
Independence, Kansas1880Independence, KansasBurning well at1906Burning well atBurning well at1906Burning well atBurning well at1906Burning well atIndependence, Kans., Penn. Ave. and Myrtle St1909Independence, Kans., Penn. Ave. and Myrtle StIndependence, Kans., Penn. Ave. and Myrtle St1909Independence, Kans., Penn. Ave. and Myrtle StIndependence, Kans., Penn. Ave. & Myrtle St1909Independence, Kans., Penn. Ave. & Myrtle St
1910s2 items
Proof that Prohibition Prohibits in Kansas, Destroying $6,000.00 worth of liquor in front of... (NBY 7085)c. 1913Proof that Prohibition Prohibits in Kansas, Destroyin…1888-1913, Jubel - Synode des Kans - Distrikts zu Independence, Kans., 8-14 Oktober 191319131888-1913, Jubel - Synode des Kans - Distrikts zu Ind…
1920s–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
Today1 recent
Map of Montgomery Co, Ks, USA2005Map of Montgomery Co, Ks, USAMap
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.

Independence, Kansas
Retake this viewIndependence, Kansas, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Independence Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

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

History across the town line

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

Franklin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHanover Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHerkimer TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Independence Township’s history

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 (7), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (4), 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.