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Beecher Bible and Rifle ChurchPhoto: Douglas McCleery · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Wabaunsee Township

Wabaunsee Township’s post office opened in 1855, and 62% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: maps from 1889 on.

1855first post office
4on the National Register
62%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Wabaunsee Township began, and where its name came from

When was Wabaunsee Township founded?

1855

The Wabaunsee Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wabaunsee (1855), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 579171 years

How did Wabaunsee Township get its name?

Wabaunsee Township was named for former Pottawatomi chief Wabaunsee.

Founding year: the first Wabaunsee Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Wabaunsee 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 Wabaunsee Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18896 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1990. Watch Wabaunsee Township change.Old housesHalf of Wabaunsee Township’s homes were built before 1938.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wabaunsee Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wabaunsee 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

Wabaunsee Township on the map, 1889 to 1990

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

Wabaunsee Township on the 1889 USGS mapWabaunsee Township on the 1894 USGS mapWabaunsee Township on the 1954 USGS mapWabaunsee Township on the 1978 USGS mapWabaunsee Township on the 1985 USGS mapWabaunsee Township on the 1990 USGS map1889Wamego 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 Wabaunsee Township.

The story

How Wabaunsee Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wabaunsee Township.

Read it all →

Wabaunsee was founded in 1855 by a group of nearly 100 emigrants from New Haven, Connecticut. They were inspired by a sermon given by well-known abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, who donated money to help supply rifles for the men to defend themselves. The rifles were smuggled through pro-slavery areas in crates marked "Beecher's Bibles."

Wabaunsee was staunchly anti-slavery and became part of the Underground Railroad in late 1856 and helped Lawrence after Quantrill's Raid. In 1862, the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church was completed and after the Civil War, Wabaunsee hoped for a railroad, but it was constructed north of the river.

Wabaunsee served as the county seat until after the Civil War, when the seat was transferred to Alma.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wabaunsee Township, 1855 to 1944

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Post officeThe Wabaunsee post office opens
  3. 1862BuiltBeecher Bible and Rifle Church is built
  4. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1944Post officeThe Wabaunsee 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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On the National Register

4 historic places in Wabaunsee Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Beecher Bible and Rifle Church
Beecher Bible and Rifle Church, built 1862Wabaunsee District #1 Grammar SchoolPratt-Mertz BarnMount Mitchell Heritage Prairie Historic District
BuildingsDistricts
Beecher Bible and Rifle ChurchBuilt 1862
Wabaunsee District #1 Grammar SchoolBuilding
All 4 listings
Pratt-Mertz BarnBuilding · listed 2020Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2022

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Wabaunsee Township

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

See all →
Walter Percy Chrysler Sr.(1875-1940) American automotive industry execut… · b. 1875
D
Dick KnostmanBasketball player · b. 1931
Wendell HallAmerican musician · b. 1896
John CarrollAmerican politician · b. 1929
Delmas Carl HillUnited States federal judge · b. 1906
D
Dean GriffingGridiron football player, coach, and executive · b. 1913
Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Wabaunsee, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Wabaunsee
Gone or out of use
Hinerville Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Wabaunsee Township
McFarlandWabaunsee

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.

Wamego Township4 historic placesBSt. George TownshipIts storyC−Alma Township4 historic placesA−Zeandale TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWamego4 historic placesBNewbury Township3 historic placesA−Kaw TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Wabaunsee Township’s history

What year was Wabaunsee Township founded?

The Wabaunsee Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Wabaunsee Township?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church (listed 1971, the first), and 1 historic district, the Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie Historic District, with 5 contributing buildings. 8 historic buildings in all.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.