Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Pawnee 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 · Pawnee Township

Pawnee Township dates to 1854

Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1893 on.

1854founded
0on the National Register
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Pawnee Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Pawnee Township began

When was Pawnee Township founded?

1854

Pawnee Township dates its founding to 1854 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1874.

2020 census: 36172 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1874.The full story ↓

What stands out about Pawnee 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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18933 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1985. Watch Pawnee Township change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Pawnee Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pawnee Township’s collection

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

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

Pawnee Township on the map, 1893 to 1985

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

Pawnee Township on the 1893 USGS mapPawnee Township on the 1973 USGS mapPawnee Township on the 1985 USGS map1893Smith Center 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 Pawnee Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Judson
1874–1901
Womer
1883–1905
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Womer
Gone or out of use
Judsonlocale

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

The story

How Pawnee Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pawnee Township.

Read it all →

Pawnee, named after a native tribe that had inhabited its land, was located on the far western frontier of Kansas Territory, between the new settlement of Manhattan and the U.S. Army post at Fort Riley. Pawnee was first laid out in 1854. Fort Riley's commander, Colonel William R. Montgomery, authorized the acquisition by the Pawnee Town Association investors of 400 acres believed to be part of the military reservation. In December 1854 or January 1855, the site was selected as capital by recently-commissioned first Territorial Governor Andrew Reeder, after his delayed arrival from Pennsylvania. Governor Reeder had an economic stake in the site, since he was one of the investors and a new landowner in the settlement, and he was not disappointed: Within six weeks of his announcement, hundreds of people arrived in the town. It quickly sprouted new homes, stores, and hotels, and he soon b…

ChaptersEarly historyEstablishing the townElecting the Territorial LegislatureOne week of actionDestruction

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Pawnee Township, 1844 to 1928

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1844In the archiveMap of Major C. Wharton's route from Fort Leavenworth to the Pawnee Villages
  3. 1854
    FoundingPawnee Township is established
  4. 1874Post officeThe Judson post office opens
  5. 1883Post officeThe Womer post office opens
  6. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 20th century
  8. 1901Post officeThe Judson post office closes
  9. 1905Post officeThe Womer post office closes
  10. 1909In the archiveFort Riley and
  11. 1928In the archiveRepublican vice-presidential nominee serves as interpreter for Indian squaw
By decade

Pawnee Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1840s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1840s1 item
Map of Major C. Wharton's route from Fort Leavenworth to the Pawnee Villages1844Map of Major C. Wharton's route from Fort Leavenworth…Map
1900s–1920s3 items
Fort Riley and1909Fort Riley andKansas Territorial Capitol1909Kansas Territorial CapitolRepublican vice-presidential nominee serves as interpreter for Indian squaw1928Republican vice-presidential nominee serves as interp…
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
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.

Fort Riley and
Retake this viewFort Riley and, 1909

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

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Beaver TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCora TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLogan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Pawnee Township’s history

What year was Pawnee Township founded?

In 1854, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Pawnee Township’s post office opened in 1874.

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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, 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.