Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Oswego 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
–Not graded
History · Oswego Township

Oswego Township dates to 1867, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1944 on, and the census since 1870.

1867founded
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Oswego Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Oswego Township began

When was Oswego Township founded?

1867

Oswego Township dates its founding to 1867 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 1,196 in 18702020 census: 330159 years
Founding year: Wikidata.The full story ↓

What stands out about Oswego 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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,574 in 1890; 1,668 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oswego Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old view1927 Mississippi Flood Oswego Kansas: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Oswego Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,574

Peaked at 2,574 in 1890; 1,668 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

The story

How Oswego Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oswego Township.

Read it all →

Oswego is located on the site of an Osage village called No tse Wa spe, which means "Heart Stays" or more loosely translated, "Quiet Heart." Jesuit Missionaries from Osage Mission (now St. Paul, Kansas) who worked among the Osages called the village "Little Town," probably because the band of Osages who lived in the village were of the "Little Osage" division of the Osage People. More specifically, the Osage Village of Little Town was described as "Little Town Above" by the Jesuits, to distinguish it from another village, which was sometimes located just to the east of Little Town, called "Little Town Below." While Osage villages were moved quite often (according to weather, hunting conditions, and sanitary conditions) Little Town Above was generally located on the bluff overlooking the Neosho River, where Oswego sits today. Little Town Below often sat near Horseshoe Lake, in the Neo…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Oswego Township, 1867 to 1944

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867
    FoundingOswego Township is established
  3. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 2,574
  4. 20th century
  5. 1927In the archive1927 Mississippi Flood Oswego Kansas
  6. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Oswego Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
1927 Mississippi Flood Oswego Kansas19271927 Mississippi Flood Oswego Kansas
1930s–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
Date unknown1 to date
Portrait of baby by Mrs C P Bridgman of Oswego Kansas USADate?Portrait of baby by Mrs C P Bridgman of Oswego Kansas…
Today4 recent
Oswego, KS public library funded by Andrew Carnegie2013Oswego, KS public library funded by Andrew CarnegieThe Village of White Hair mural 2006-07-032006The Village of White Hair mural 2006-07-03Map of Labette Co, Ks, USA2005Map of Labette Co, Ks, USAMapKSMap-doton-Oswego2004KSMap-doton-Oswego
On the map

Oswego Township on the map, 1944 to 1974

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

Oswego Township on the 1944 USGS mapOswego Township on the 1974 USGS map1944Oswego sheet · 1:62,500

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

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.

1927 Mississippi Flood Oswego Kansas
Retake this view1927 Mississippi Flood Oswego Kansas, 1927

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Hillside Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Campbell SchoolschoolEclipse SchoolschoolOak Grove SchoolschoolStice Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Oswego Township
OswegoPoor BoyTibbets

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.

Montana TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLola TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFairview TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Oswego Township’s history

What year was Oswego Township founded?

In 1867, according to Wikidata. the census of 1870 counted 1,196 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 (6), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.