The story
Read it all →How Pioneer Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Pioneer Township.
Pioneer was issued a post office in 1878. The post office was discontinued in 1893.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Pioneer Township
44% of Pioneer Township’s homes were built before 1940
Its Register listings are the Santa Fe Trail-Rice County Trail Segments and the Santa Fe Trail-Rice County Segment 1. Below: maps from 1894 on.
2on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
What stands out about Pioneer Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Pioneer Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pioneer Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Pioneer Township on the map, 1894 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pioneer Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1894Lyons sheet · 1:125,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pioneer Township.
Timeline
Pioneer Township, 1893 to 1953
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1893Post officeThe Silica post office opens
- 1894
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1953Post officeThe Silica post office closes
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 albumOn the National Register
2 historic places in Pioneer Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Santa Fe Trail-Rice County Trail Segments
Sites
All 2 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Pioneer Township
Nobody well known was born in Pioneer Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
W
Wally HickelGovernor of Alaska, United States Secretary of … · b. 1919
F
Fay ThomasAmerican baseball player · b. 1903
M
Milton R. WolfAmerican politician and physician · b. 1971Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Silica, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Silica
Gone or out of use
Chase-Silica Oil FieldoilfieldIXL Oil Fieldoilfield
1cemetery inside Pioneer Township
Immanuel
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.
Raymond TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFarmer TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLincoln TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLakin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Pioneer Township’s history
What is on the National Register in Pioneer Township?
Two places: the Santa Fe Trail-Rice County Trail Segments (listed 1995) and the Santa Fe Trail-Rice County Segment 1 (2013).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.