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History · Spring Valley Township

Spring Valley Township’s post office opened in 1872, and 64% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Heinrich H. Schroeder Barn. Its Register listing is the Heinrich H. Schroeder Barn. Below: maps from 1889 on.

1872first post office
1on the National Register
64%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Spring Valley Township began

When was Spring Valley Township founded?

1872

The Spring Valley Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Spring Valley (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 316154 years
Founding year: the first Spring Valley Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Spring Valley 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 writtenNo old photos of Spring Valley Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18894 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1985. Watch Spring Valley Township change.Old housesHalf of Spring Valley Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spring Valley Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Spring Valley Township on the map, 1889 to 1985

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

Spring Valley Township on the 1889 USGS mapSpring Valley Township on the 1894 USGS mapSpring Valley Township on the 1971 USGS mapSpring Valley Township on the 1985 USGS map1889Newton 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 Spring Valley Township.

The story so far

Spring Valley Township, in brief

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

Spring Valley Township is a township in McPherson County, Kansas, United States.

Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 335 to 316 (-6%).

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

Timeline

Spring Valley Township, 1872 to 1915

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Spring Valley post office opens
  3. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1902Post officeThe Spring Valley post office closes
  6. 1915BuiltHeinrich H. Schroeder Barn is built
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 album
On the National Register

1 historic place in Spring Valley Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2005
Heinrich H. Schroeder Barn
Heinrich H. Schroeder Barn, built 1915
Buildings
All 1 listings
Heinrich H. Schroeder BarnBuilding · listed 2005

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Another post office, Spring Valley, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Spring ValleylocaleSpring Valley Oil Fieldoilfield

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.

Lone Tree TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCanton Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMenno TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Spring Valley Township’s history

What year was Spring Valley Township founded?

The Spring Valley Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Spring Valley Township?

One place: the Heinrich H. Schroeder Barn (listed 2005).

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 (1), 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.