The story
Read it all →How Iowa Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Iowa Township.
Iowa Township was organized in 1854. It was named for the Iowa people who lived there on the reservation.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A+History
History · Iowa Township
37% of Iowa Township’s homes were built before 1940
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it
11 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1885 on.
11on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
Where Iowa Township’s name came from
How did Iowa Township get its name?
Iowa Township was named for the Iowa people who lived there on the reservation.
How historic is Iowa Township?
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What drives the grade ↓Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Iowa Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Iowa Township is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs put Iowa Township near the top nationally; its National Register listings ranks highest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Iowa Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194037.1% of homes (±7.0) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register11 listings, 76 historic buildings, 479 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Among the top 1%
NewerOlder
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 Iowa Township’s 479 sits above most of its state (100% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 76 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.0 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Iowa Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages6 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Iowa Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Iowa Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18855 editions of the USGS map, 1885 to 1990. Watch Iowa Township change.Landmarks on the Register11 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Six other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Iowa Point
Walnut Grove
Wenona
Winona
Fanning
Sparks
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FanningIowa PointSparks
Gone or out of use
Arnold SchoolschoolCedar Creek SchoolschoolFairview SchoolschoolFrog College SchoolschoolIowa Sac and Fox Indian MissionschoolJeffers SchoolschoolMartin SchoolschoolPleasant Grove SchoolschoolWillow Spring SchoolschoolWinonalocaleWinona Schoolschool
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Iowa Township
FanningHighlandIolaIowa PointOlive BranchWalnut Grove
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Iowa Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Iowa 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
Iowa Township on the map, 1885 to 1990
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Iowa Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1885Atchison 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 Iowa Township.
Timeline
Iowa Township, 1846 to 1933
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1846
BuiltIowa, Sac, and Fox Presbyterian Mission is built - 1855
BuiltSite No. RH00-062 is built - 1855Post officeThe Iowa Point post office opens
- 1856Post officeThe Walnut Grove post office opens
- 1857Post officeThe Wenona post office opens
- 1859Post officeThe Wenona post office closes
- 1870Post officeThe Walnut Grove post office closes
- 1885
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1933Post officeThe Iowa Point 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 albumOn the National Register
11 listings protect 76 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
11
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
76
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Iowa, Sac, and Fox Presbyterian Mission
BuildingsObjects
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Iowa Township
Nobody well known was born in Iowa Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Iowa Township’s history
How does Iowa Township rank for history?
Iowa Township is among the most historic 1% 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 Iowa Township?
11 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Iowa, Sac, and Fox Presbyterian Mission (listed 1970, the first), and 1 object. 76 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Iowa Township?
37% of Iowa Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1963.
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).
From the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.