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History · King City Township

King City Township’s post office opened in 1871

Most of King City Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1965 on.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How King City Township began

When was King City Township founded?

1871

The King City Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, King City (1871) and Elyria (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 506155 years
Founding year: the first King City Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about King City 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 King City Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s King City Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start King City Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how King City 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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

King City
1871–1887
Elyria
1887–1954
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Elyria
Gone or out of use
Elyria Oil FieldoilfieldSanta Fe Elementary Schoolschool

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

The story so far

King City Township, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1871. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 477 to 506 (+6%).

Timeline

King City Township, 1871 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe King City post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe King City post office closes
  4. 1887Post officeThe Elyria post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1954Post officeThe Elyria post office closes
  7. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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 album
On the map

King City Township on the map, 1965 to 1985

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

King City Township on the 1965 USGS mapKing City Township on the 1979 USGS mapKing City Township on the 1985 USGS map1965Mc Pherson South sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of King City Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

McPherson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMcPherson7 historic placesBLone Tree TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGroveland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about King City Township’s history

What year was King City Township founded?

The King City Township post office opened in 1871, 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.