Miltonvale was founded on December 1, 1881. The town got its start following construction of a narrow gauge railway through the neighborhood. It was named for Milton Tootle, a landowner.
In 1887, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway built a branch line from Neva (three miles west of Strong City) through TBD to Superior, Nebraska. In 1996, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway merged with Burlington Northern Railroad and renamed to the current BNSF Railway. Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Santa Fe".
From 1909 to 1972, Miltonvale was the home of Miltonvale Wesleyan College.
Passages that mention Miltonvale, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Biographical history of Cloud County, Kansas1903 · page 849Read the page →
Read the text
He became a citizen of Cloud county in 1873 and took up a homestead two and three-quarters miles northeast of the present town of Miltonvale; his two brothers, James and George, following a few weeks later. They are also residents of Miltonvale and have extensive business interests there.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Biographical history of Cloud County, Kansas1903 · page 841Read the page →
Read the text
which is one of the Ijest church edifices in the town of Miltonvale. It is seated with two hundred and si.xteen chairs. The church was erected at a cost of $3,300, but before all their payments were met there was a total of about $4,000. The church was built by popular subscription and some outside donations, but the greater i)art of it. by a few individual members.
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
Miltonvale, 1873 to 1966
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
