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C+History
History · Township 11

18% of Township 11’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1896 on.

0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

About Township 11’s history

How historic is Township 11?

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More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Township 11’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Township 11 is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Township 11’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 40%
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 Township 11’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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 Township 11’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Township 11’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Township 11’s history is told.

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

Township 11 on the map, 1896 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Township 11. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Township 11 on the 1896 USGS mapTownship 11 on the 1978 USGS mapTownship 11 on the 1985 USGS map1896Plainville 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 Township 11.

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.

Hoskins
1880–1888
McHale
1880–1891
Nyra
1883–1888
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Baumgarten Oil FieldoilfieldHoskinslocaleMcHalelocaleNyralocalePlainville Airparkairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Township 11
PlainvilleTwin Mound

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

The story

How Township 11 came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Township 11.

Read it all →

Rooks County was established with four townships: Bow Creek, Lowell, Paradise and Stockton. That number increased to seven by 1878 and twenty three in 1925. The twenty three townships were in place until 1971 when the number was reduced to the current twelve townships.

Township 11 was formed from Rooks County townships Plainville and Twin Mound in 1971 pursuant to Kansas Statute 80-1110. 80-1110 allowed for the disorganization of townships and assigning those territories to contiguous townships.

Plainville Township was established in 1879 from Paradise Township. Fairview, Logan, Northampton and Walton townships were eventually formed from parts of Plainville township. Plainville remained a double township until Township 11 was created.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Township 11, 1880 to 1896

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Hoskins post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe McHale post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Nyra post office opens
  5. 1888Post officeThe Hoskins post office closes
  6. 1888Post officeThe Nyra post office closes
  7. 1891Post officeThe McHale post office closes
  8. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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
Famous people

Famous people close to Township 11

Nobody well known was born in Township 11 itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Township 11’s history

How does Township 11 rank for history?

Township 11 is more historic than 40% 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.

How old are the homes in Township 11?

18% of Township 11’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1955.

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 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.