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History · Janesville Township

Janesville Township’s post office opened in 1860, and 56% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1885 on.

1860first post office
0on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Janesville Township began

When was Janesville Township founded?

1860

The Janesville Township post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Janesville (1860), Homer Creek (1869) and Willow Valley (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 333166 years
Founding year: the first Janesville Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Janesville 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 Janesville 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 Janesville Township change.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Janesville Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Janesville Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Janesville Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Janesville Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Janesville Township on the map, 1885 to 1990

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

Janesville Township on the 1885 USGS mapJanesville Township on the 1894 USGS mapJanesville Township on the 1971 USGS mapJanesville Township on the 1985 USGS mapJanesville Township on the 1990 USGS map1885Eureka 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 Janesville Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Janesville
1860–1880
Homer Creek
1869–1872
Willow Valley
1871–1887
Thrall
1885–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BisbeeBurkettThrall
Gone or out of use
Burkett Oil FieldoilfieldGaffney Oil FieldoilfieldSleeley-Wick Oil FieldoilfieldWiggins Oil FieldoilfieldWillow Valleylocale
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Janesville Township
Homer CreekJanesvilleOttPrairie Chapel

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

The story so far

Janesville Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Janesville Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Janesville Township is a township in Greenwood County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 333.

Its first post office opened in 1860. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 469 to 333 (-29%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Janesville Township, 1860 to 1887

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860Post officeThe Janesville post office opens
  3. 1869Post officeThe Homer Creek post office opens
  4. 1871Post officeThe Willow Valley post office opens
  5. 1872Post officeThe Homer Creek post office closes
  6. 1880Post officeThe Janesville post office closes
  7. 1885On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1887Post officeThe Willow Valley 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.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Janesville Township

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

See all →
G
George MundayAmerican football player · b. 1907
L
Larry HibbardAmerican politician · b. 1945
W
Will CarpenterAmerican politician and businessman · b. 1956
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Madison Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSalem TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBachelor TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLane TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSouth Salem TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEureka TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Janesville Township’s history

What year was Janesville Township founded?

The Janesville Township post office opened in 1860, 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 →
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 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.