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History · Township 8

31% of Township 8’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1893 on.

0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Township 8’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 8 are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18933 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1985. Watch Township 8 change.Old housesHalf of Township 8’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Township 8’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Township 8’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

Township 8 on the map, 1893 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Township 8. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Township 8 on the 1893 USGS mapTownship 8 on the 1969 USGS mapTownship 8 on the 1985 USGS map1893Hill City 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 8.

The story

How Township 8 came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Township 8.

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 8 was formed by renaming Northampton Township in 1971. While other Rooks County townships were combined pursuant to Kansas Statute 80-1110, Northampton was just renamed using the new naming standard.

Northampton Township was established in 1879 from part of Plainville Township. Plainville Township was composed of territory from the original Paradise Township.

ChaptersNorthampton Township

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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 Township 8

Nobody well known was born in Township 8 itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Dale DodrillAmerican football player · b. 1926
Veryl SwitzerAmerican football player · b. 1932
B
Brent CollinsActor · b. 1941
Mal StevensAmerican tennis player · b. 1900
H
Harry McGeeAmerican football player · b. 1905
M
Marvin SwitzerAmerican football defensive back · b. 1954
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
CressonlocaleGra-Rook North Oil FieldoilfieldGra-Rook Oil Fieldoilfield
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Township 8
Green MoundPalcoPleasantviewSaint Joseph

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.

Township 71 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTownship 10Its storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTownship 9Its storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMorlan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Township 8’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 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.