Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Neodesha Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Brown Hotel, Neodesha, KSPhoto: 25or6to4 · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Neodesha Township

Neodesha Township dates to 1871, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.

1871founded
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: 25or6to4 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Neodesha Township began

When was Neodesha Township founded?

1871

Neodesha Township dates its founding to 1871 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 924 in 18802020 census: 598155 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1879.The full story ↓

What stands out about Neodesha 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18867 editions of the USGS map, 1886 to 1990. Watch Neodesha Township change.Boom and bustPeaked at 3,943 in 1920; 2,275 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Neodesha Township’s collection

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

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

Neodesha Township on the map, 1886 to 1990

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

Neodesha Township on the 1886 USGS mapNeodesha Township on the 1894 USGS mapNeodesha Township on the 1905 USGS mapNeodesha Township on the 1959 USGS mapNeodesha Township on the 1979 USGS mapNeodesha Township on the 1985 USGS mapNeodesha Township on the 1990 USGS map1886Independence 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 Neodesha Township.

People over time

Neodesha Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,943

Peaked at 3,943 in 1920; 2,275 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Neodesha Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Neodesha Township.

Read it all →

The first settlers in the area that would eventually become Neodesha established a trading post in October 1867 to the northwest of the present town. They were allowed by the Osage Native Americans to establish a trading post on the Osage Diminished Reserve because the nearest trading post was over thirty miles away. After the Drum Creek Treaty had been signed by the Osage tribe in September 1870 and the tribe moved to Indian Territory, it opened the way for settlers to move to the area. Neodesha was incorporated March 2, 1871 and the original plat was filed with the U.S. Land Office in July 1871. Neodesha is an Osage name meaning "meeting of the waters".

Chapters19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Neodesha Township, 1871 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871
    FoundingNeodesha Township is established
  3. 1879Post officeThe Dun post office opens
  4. 1886On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1893In the archiveNormanNumberOneWell
  6. 20th century
  7. 1905Post officeThe Dun post office closes
  8. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 3,943
By decade

Neodesha Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
NormanNumberOneWell1893NormanNumberOneWell
1900s–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
Brown Hotel2017Brown Hotel
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.

NormanNumberOneWell
Retake this viewNormanNumberOneWell, 1893

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Dun, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Hilford
Gone or out of use
DunlocaleNorman Number One Oil Welloilfield
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Neodesha Township
GrandviewRossVarner

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Cedar TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNewark Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChetopa TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Neodesha Township’s history

What year was Neodesha Township founded?

In 1871, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Neodesha Township’s post office opened in 1879, and the census of 1880 counted 924 people here.

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 (2), Wikidata (3), 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.