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History · Protection Township

Protection Township’s post office opened in 1884, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1910.

1884first post office
1on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Protection Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Protection Township began

When was Protection Township founded?

1884

The Protection Township post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Von (1885) and Comanche (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 390 in 19102020 census: 656142 years
Founding year: the first Protection Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Protection 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.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,109 in 1920; 498 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Protection Township.Old housesHalf of Protection Township’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Protection Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewProtection, Kansas (1913): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Protection Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,109

Peaked at 1,109 in 1920; 498 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Von
1885–1890
Comanche
1886–1890
18801950today
Gone or out of use
ComanchelocaleVonlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Protection Township
MennoniteProtection

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

The story

How Protection Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Protection Township.

Read it all →

Protection was founded in 1884. Popular support for a protective tariff in the 1884 presidential election caused the name to be selected. The first post office in Protection was established on August 27, 1884.

The town became nationally and internationally known via radio and television in 1957, when the National Polio Foundation chose it as the center for the free distribution of Salk vaccine shots for polio. It then became 100 percent protected.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Protection Township, 1885 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Von post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Comanche post office opens
  4. 1890Post officeThe Von post office closes
  5. 1890Post officeThe Comanche post office closes
  6. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 20th century
  8. 1913In the archiveProtection, Kansas (1913)
  9. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,109
By decade

Protection Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Protection, Kansas (1913)1913Protection, Kansas (1913)
1920s–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
KSMap-doton-Protection2004KSMap-doton-Protection
On the map

Protection Township on the map, 1892 to 1980

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

Protection Township on the 1892 USGS mapProtection Township on the 1980 USGS map1892Coldwater 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 Protection 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.

Protection, Kansas (1913)
Retake this viewProtection, Kansas (1913), 1913

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Protection Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Protection Township

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

See all →
Eddie SuttonAmerican college basketball player and coach · b. 1936
S
Sandra SeacatAmerican acting teacher and actress · b. 1936
Wes SanteeAmerican distance runner · b. 1932
Earle TaylorAmerican football player · b. 1891
E
Everette Lee DeGolyerAmerican geophysicist and philanthropist · b. 1886
L
Leland ShafferAmerican football player · b. 1912
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Coldwater Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAvilla TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLexington TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Protection Township’s history

What year was Protection Township founded?

The Protection Township post office opened in 1884, 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 →
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 (1), 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.