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History · Rural Township

Rural Township’s post office opened in 1871, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 6 buildings. Below: maps from 1949 on.

1871first post office
2on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Rural Township began

When was Rural Township founded?

1871

The Rural Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Clement (1866), Williamstown (1866) and Rural (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 776155 years
Founding year: the first Rural Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Rural Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Rural Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Rural Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Clement
1866–1866
Williamstown
1866–1968
Rural
1871–1883
Dean
1892–1901
Buckcreek
1899–1905
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Buck CreekWilliamstown
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Rural Township
BusterHollidayUnderwood

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

Help out

Start Rural Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rural 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
The story so far

Rural Township, in brief

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

Rural Township is a township in Jefferson County, Kansas, United States. It was formed in 1871, from the territory of Kentucky Township and Sarcoxie Township. As of the 2020 census, its population was 776.

Its first post office opened in 1871. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 761 in 2010, 776 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Rural Township, 1866 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Clement post office opens
  3. 1866Post officeThe Clement post office closes
  4. 1866Post officeThe Williamstown post office opens
  5. 1871Post officeThe Rural post office opens
  6. 1878BuiltBuck Creek School is built
  7. 1883Post officeThe Rural post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1968Post officeThe Williamstown 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.
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On the map

Rural Township on the map, 1949 to 1978

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

Rural Township on the 1949 USGS mapRural Township on the 1950 USGS mapRural Township on the 1967 USGS mapRural Township on the 1978 USGS map1949Williamstown sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Rural Township.

On the National Register

2 listings protect 7 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Buck Creek School
Buck Creek School, built 1878Morris Harris Farmstead
BuildingsDistricts
Buck Creek SchoolBuilt 1878
Morris Harris FarmsteadDistrict

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Rural Township

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

See all →
Erin BrockovichAmerican environmental activist · b. 1960
Delbert MannAmerican television and film director · b. 1920
Bart D. EhrmanAmerican biblical scholar · b. 1955
Danny CareyAmerican drummer · b. 1961
Alvan AdamsAmerican basketball player · b. 1954
Hugh BeaumontAmerican actor · b. 1909
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Oskaloosa Township4 historic placesB+Lecompton Township4 historic placesB+Sarcoxie Township1 historic placeB−Grant Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWakarusa Township1 historic placeC+Kentucky Township1 historic placeB−

Questions about Rural Township’s history

What year was Rural Township founded?

The Rural Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Rural Township?

Two places: the Buck Creek School (listed 1988) and the Morris Harris Farmstead (2023).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.