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History · Paw Paw Township

Paw Paw Township’s post office opened in 1872

Most of Paw Paw Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1963. Below: maps from 1939 on.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Paw Paw Township began

When was Paw Paw Township founded?

1872

The Paw Paw Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Paw Paw (1872), Cresco (1876) and Fiat (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 107154 years
Founding year: the first Paw Paw Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Paw Paw 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 writtenNo old photos of Paw Paw Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Paw Paw Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Paw Paw Township’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Paw Paw Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Paw Paw
1872–1890
Cresco
1876–1880
Fiat
1882–1898
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Fiat
Gone or out of use
Blake QuarrymineGreen Valley SchoolschoolPleasant Plain Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Paw Paw Township
CrescoRural Vale

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

The story so far

Paw Paw Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Paw Paw Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Paw Paw Township is a township in Elk County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 107.

Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 124 to 107 (-14%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Paw Paw Township, 1872 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Paw Paw post office opens
  3. 1876Post officeThe Cresco post office opens
  4. 1880Post officeThe Cresco post office closes
  5. 1882Post officeThe Fiat post office opens
  6. 1890Post officeThe Paw Paw post office closes
  7. 1898Post officeThe Fiat post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Paw Paw Township on the map, 1939 to 1941

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

Paw Paw Township on the 1939 USGS mapPaw Paw Township on the 1941 USGS map1939Severy 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 Paw Paw Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Paw Paw Township

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

See all →
Bob WhittakerAmerican politician · b. 1939
R
Rex A. WadeAmerican historian · b. 1936
Trixie FriganzaAmerican actress · b. 1870
E
Edward L. ToddAmerican entomologist · b. 1922
Dale Emerson SaffelsUnited States federal judge · b. 1921
G
George MundayAmerican football player · b. 1907
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Howard Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnion Center TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTwin Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLiberty TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Paw Paw Township’s history

What year was Paw Paw Township founded?

The Paw Paw Township post office opened in 1872, 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 →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.