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Old Kaw MissionOld Kaw Mission · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Township 2

1 of Township 2’s places is on the National Register

Its Register listing is the Old Kaw Mission. Most of Township 2 was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006.

1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Township 2’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 Township 2 are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Township 2, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Township 2’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Township 2’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Beman
1875–1906
Kelso
1881–1942
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DowningKelso
Gone or out of use
BemanlocaleJohn Creek Oil Fieldoilfield
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Township 2
BemanCalvaryGarfieldKelso

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

The story so far

Township 2, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Township 2 yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Township 2 is a township in Morris County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 627.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 720 to 627 (-13%).

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

Timeline

Township 2, 1851 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851BuiltOld Kaw Mission is built
  3. 1875Post officeThe Beman post office opens
  4. 1881Post officeThe Kelso post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906Post officeThe Beman post office closes
  7. 1942Post officeThe Kelso 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.
Add from your album
On the National Register

1 historic place in Township 2

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
1971
Old Kaw Mission
Old Kaw Mission, built 1851
Buildings
Old Kaw MissionBuilt 1851

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Council Grove16 historic placesA+Rock Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGarfield Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTownship 91 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAgnes City TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Township 2’s history

What is on the National Register in Township 2?

One place: the Old Kaw Mission (listed 1971).

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), 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.