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History · Langdon

Langdon’s post office opened in 1873, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1920.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Langdon’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Langdon began

When was Langdon founded?

1873

The Langdon post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Leonville (1873), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 204 in 19202020 census: 39153 years
Founding year: the first Langdon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Langdon’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Langdon change.Old housesHalf of Langdon’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Langdon’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFMIB 35464 Preparing fish for Shipment: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Langdon on the map, 1892 to 1985

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

Langdon on the 1892 USGS mapLangdon on the 1971 USGS mapLangdon on the 1985 USGS map1892Kingman 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 Langdon.

The story

How Langdon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Langdon.

Read it all →

The first post office in Langdon was established in 1873. Langdon was named for a local businessman.

In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway built a main line from Herington through Langdon to Pratt. In 1888, this line was extended to Liberal. Later, it was extended to Tucumcari, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. It foreclosed in 1891 and taken over by Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway, which shut down in 1980 and reorganized as Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad, merged in 1988 with Missouri Pacific Railroad, merged in 1997 with Union Pacific Railroad. Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Rock Island".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Langdon in 1917

Passages that mention Langdon, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Loda was the township organized at the same time Sumner township was created. It was taken from Langdon township by cutting off township 26, range 8, from Langdon. The first election was held at the time of the general election and resulted in the selection of the following officers : Trus-
History of Reno County, Kansas1917Read the page →
Read the text

Loda was the township organized at the same time Sumner township was created. It was taken from Langdon township by cutting off township 26, range 8, from Langdon. The first election was held at the time of the general election and resulted in the selection of the following officers : Trus-

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Langdon, 1873 to 1989

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Langdon post office opens
  3. 1873Post officeThe Leonville post office opens
  4. 1873Post officeThe Leonville post office closes
  5. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1925In the archiveFMIB 35464 Preparing fish for Shipment
  8. 1979In the archiveThea ter
  9. 1989Post officeThe Langdon post office closes
By decade

Langdon, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
FMIB 35464 Preparing fish for Shipment1925FMIB 35464 Preparing fish for Shipment
1930s–1960snothing 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
1970s1 item
Thea ter1979Thea ter
1980s–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
KSMap-doton-Langdon2005KSMap-doton-Langdon
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.

FMIB 35464 Preparing fish for Shipment
Retake this viewFMIB 35464 Preparing fish for Shipment, 1925

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Langdon, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 208

Between 39 and 208 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Langdon

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

See all →
Everett SheltonAmerican football player, basketball coach, col… · b. 1898
B
Bob BlasiAmerican football coach · b. 1930
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Langdon had its own post office from 1873 to 1989. Another post office, Leonville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Langdon
1873–1989
Leonville
1873–1873
18701950today

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

Questions about Langdon’s history

What year was Langdon founded?

The Langdon post office opened in 1873, 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 Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.