How Maple Hill Township began, and where its name came from
When was Maple Hill Township founded?
1862
The Maple Hill Township post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Springside (1870), Post Creek (1879) and Vera (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 277 in 19102020 census: 1,136164 years
How did Maple Hill Township get its name?
Maple Hill Township was named from a grove of maple trees growing upon an elevation.
How historic is Maple Hill Township?
C+
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Maple Hill Township is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Maple Hill Township’s overall grade.
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 Maple Hill Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Maple Hill Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1910 and 1950, then grew 3-fold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Maple Hill Township’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Maple Hill Township on the map, 1889 to 1978
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Maple Hill Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1889Wamego 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 Maple Hill Township.
Maple Hill was founded about 1882. It was named from a grove of maple trees growing upon an elevation.
In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway built a main line from Topeka through Maple Hill to Herington.
The Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway was 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".
The Maple Hill Township post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Maple Hill Township rank for history?
Maple Hill Township is more historic than 42% 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.
How old are the homes in Maple Hill Township?
24% of Maple Hill Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
