Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Sylvia Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Sylvia Township

Sylvia Township’s post office opened in 1887, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1890.

1887first post office
1on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Sylvia Township began

When was Sylvia Township founded?

1887

The Sylvia Township post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 205 in 18902020 census: 291139 years
Founding year: the first Sylvia Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Sylvia 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 Sylvia Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Sylvia Township change.Boom and bustPeaked at 634 in 1910; 215 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Sylvia Township’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sylvia Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sylvia 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

Sylvia Township on the map, 1892 to 1985

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

Sylvia Township on the 1892 USGS mapSylvia Township on the 1971 USGS mapSylvia Township on the 1985 USGS map1892Kingman 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 Sylvia Township.

People over time

Sylvia Township, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 634

Peaked at 634 in 1910; 215 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Sylvia Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sylvia Township.

Read it all →

Sylvia was originally called Zenith, and was founded under that name in 1874. It was renamed Sylvia in 1886, perhaps named for the wife and daughter of a railroad employee.

The local high school football team was on the losing side of a lopsided football game against another school from across the county in Haven. Played in 1927 with a final score of 256–0, the game produced multiple state high school records.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Sylvia Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
KSMap-doton-Sylvia2005KSMap-doton-Sylvia
On the National Register

1 historic place in Sylvia 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

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Hall Airfieldairport
1cemetery inside Sylvia Township
Sylvia

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.

Plevna TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHayes TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFairview TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sylvia Township’s history

What year was Sylvia Township founded?

The Sylvia Township post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikimedia Commons (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.