History · Spearville Township

Spearville Township’s post office opened in 1877, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 67% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Santa Fe Trail-Ford County Segment 2. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1880.

1877first post office

1on the National Register

34%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Spearville Township’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Spearville Township began

When was Spearville Township founded?

1877

The Spearville Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 156 in 18802020 census: 1,163149 years

How historic is Spearville Township?

B⁺

More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Spearville Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Spearville Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spearville Township is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spearville Township’s overall grade.

Founding era1877, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 194033.6% of homes (±9.4) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%A National Register1 listing, 7.6 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4B⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 67%

NewerOlder

Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Spearville Township’s 7.6 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Spearville 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.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1984. Watch Spearville Township change.Old housesHalf of Spearville Township’s homes were built before 1958.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spearville Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Spearville 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 viewSpearville, Kansas: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Spearville Township on the map, 1892 to 1984

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

Spearville Township on the 1892 USGS map

Spearville Township on the 1972 USGS map

Spearville Township on the 1984 USGS map

1892Spearville 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 Spearville Township.

The story

How Spearville Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Spearville Township.

Read it all →

The land for the townsite of Spearville was deeded by the Santa Fe to the Arkansas Valley Town Company in March 1873. Spearville was built on an area along a section of the Santa Fe Trail called Dry Ridge. The town was named for Alden H. Speare, railroad director and president of the town company. The city name appeared as both Spearville and Speareville until the 1890s, when local newspapers settled on the spelling of the town's name.

Spearville's first permanent residents were the Santa Fe section foreman, Jonas Stafford, and his family, who settled in Spearville in January, 1875. Stafford's wife and daughters opened an eating house, mainly for the accommodation of the section hands.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Spearville Township, decade by decade

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

1910s1 item

c. 1910Spearville, Kansas

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

Today4 recent

2009Windmills at Spearville, Kansas, United States

2007Spearville Wind Energy Facility 553085021 b8a45172a0 o

2007Spearville Wind Energy Facility 553084783 35a87dd952 o

2004KSMap-doton-Spearville

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.

Retake this viewSpearville, Kansas, c. 1910

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

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

1 historic place in Spearville Township

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2013

Santa Fe Trail-Ford County Segment 2

Sites

All 1 listings

Santa Fe Trail-Ford County Segment 2Site · listed 2013

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

People over time

Spearville Township, census by census

Between 156 and 813 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use

Knoeber Landing StripairportShehan Airparkairport

1cemetery inside Spearville Township

Silent Land

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.

Ford TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Wheatland Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Grandview Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Bucklin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Sawlog Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Spearville Township’s history

What year was Spearville Township founded?

The Spearville Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Spearville Township rank for history?

Spearville Township is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Spearville Township?

One place: the Santa Fe Trail-Ford County Segment 2 (listed 2013).

How old are the homes in Spearville Township?

34% of Spearville Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.4 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1958.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.

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