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History · Radium

Radium’s post office opened in 1910, and 91% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1940.

1910first post office
0on the National Register
91%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Radium began

When was Radium founded?

1910

The Radium post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 85 in 19402020 census: 26116 years
Founding year: the first Radium post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Radium’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 Radium are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18913 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1985. Watch Radium change.Old housesHalf of Radium’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Radium’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Radium’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
On the map

Radium on the map, 1891 to 1985

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

Radium on the 1891 USGS mapRadium on the 1969 USGS mapRadium on the 1985 USGS map1891Great Bend 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 Radium.

The story

How Radium came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Radium.

Read it all →

A post office was opened in Radium in 1910, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1990.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Radium, 1891 to 1988

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910Post officeThe Radium post office opens
  5. 1988Post officeThe Radium post office closes
By decade

Radium, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Map of Pawnee Co, Ks, USA2005Map of Pawnee Co, Ks, USAMap
People over time

Radium, census by census

019401960198020002020Peak: 85

Between 25 and 85 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Radium had its own post office from 1910 to 1988.

Radium
1910–1988
19101970today

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

Questions about Radium’s history

What year was Radium founded?

The Radium post office opened in 1910, 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 (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.