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History · Swede Creek Township

30% of Swede Creek Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on.

0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Swede Creek 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 Swede Creek 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 1983. Watch Swede Creek Township change.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Swede Creek Township.Old housesHalf of Swede Creek Township’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Swede Creek Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Swede Creek 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

Swede Creek Township on the map, 1889 to 1983

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

Swede Creek Township on the 1889 USGS mapSwede Creek Township on the 1894 USGS mapSwede Creek Township on the 1968 USGS mapSwede Creek Township on the 1983 USGS map1889Marysville 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 Swede Creek Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Big Timber
1866–1886
Cleburne
1886–1960
Center Hill
1903–1904
18601940today
Gone or out of use
Center Hill SchoolschoolCleburnelocale
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Swede Creek Township
BellegardeFancy Creek RandolphRose HillSwede Creek

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

The story so far

Swede Creek Township, in brief

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

Swede Creek Township is a township in Riley County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 204.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 155 to 204 (+32%).

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

Timeline

Swede Creek Township, 1866 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Big Timber post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Big Timber post office closes
  4. 1886Post officeThe Cleburne post office opens
  5. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903Post officeThe Center Hill post office opens
  8. 1904Post officeThe Center Hill post office closes
  9. 1960Post officeThe Cleburne 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.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Swede Creek Township

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

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Albin Kasper LongrenAmerican pilot · b. 1882
Sharon SchwartzAmerican politician · b. 1940
G
Glen H. ThomasAmerican architect · b. 1889
John WingbladeCanadian politician · b. 1883
J
Josephine Thorndike BerryAmerican educator and home economist · b. 1871
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Blue Valley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townJackson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBlue Rapids TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSpring Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCottage Hill TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMay Day TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBigelow TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Swede Creek Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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 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.