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History · Sumner Township

13% of Sumner Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on.

0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Sumner 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 Sumner Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18895 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1990. Watch Sumner Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sumner Township’s collection

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

Sumner Township on the map, 1889 to 1990

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

Sumner Township on the 1889 USGS mapSumner Township on the 1891 USGS mapSumner Township on the 1901 USGS mapSumner Township on the 1985 USGS mapSumner Township on the 1990 USGS map1889Cheney 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 Sumner Township.

The story

How Sumner Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sumner Township.

Read it all →

The first township in Reno County was Reno Township, which covered the whole county upon its creation in 1872. Haven Township was established later in 1872 from parts of Reno Township, and then in 1877 Sumner Township would be created from part of Haven Township. The first settler in what was to be Sumner Township was John L. Gill, who settled in the area in March 1872. Sumner Township is home to the former town of Ost, also called St. Joseph, and had a large German Catholic community. Ost was incorporated from 1882–1911 and had a peak population of 150 people.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sumner Township, 1882 to 1911

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Ost post office opens
  3. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1911Post officeThe Ost 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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Famous people

Famous people close to Sumner Township

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

See all →
C
Colton HaynesAmerican actor and model · b. 1986
Derek NorrisAmerican baseball player · b. 1989
Howard J. McMurrayAmerican politician · b. 1901
L
Larry FossAmerican baseball player · b. 1936
Ed SieverAmerican baseball player · b. 1875
J
Joe SeiwertAmerican politician · b. 1951
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint Joe
Gone or out of use
Hilger Southwest Oil FieldoilfieldOstlocale

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.

Ninnescah TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrand River TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSherman TownshipIts storyC+Haven TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Sumner Township’s history

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 Wikipedia, 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.