Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Waldo 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 · Waldo Township

Waldo Township’s post office opened in 1888, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1920.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
52%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Waldo Township began

When was Waldo Township founded?

1888

The Waldo Township post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Success (1878) and Amherst (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 246 in 19202020 census: 83138 years
Founding year: the first Waldo Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Waldo 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 Waldo Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18963 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1985. Watch Waldo Township change.Old housesHalf of Waldo Township’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Waldo Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Waldo Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Waldo 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

Waldo Township on the map, 1896 to 1985

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

Waldo Township on the 1896 USGS mapWaldo Township on the 1978 USGS mapWaldo Township on the 1985 USGS map1896Osborne 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 Waldo Township.

The story

How Waldo Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Waldo Township.

Read it all →

The Union Town Company established the town of Waldo on October 1, 1888, having acquired 280 acres of land on a line of the Union Pacific Railroad. The community grew over the following decades, reaching a population of approximately 300 by 1915. A small business community, including a bank, stores, and three grain elevators, developed during the 1900s. The town served as an agricultural shipping and receiving point for the surrounding area. Waldo incorporated as a city in May 1911.

Since the 1930s, the population of the community has gradually declined. Waldo High School closed in 1964, followed by Waldo Grade School in 1979. In 1993, Union Pacific abandoned its rail line through Waldo, ending rail service to the community.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Waldo Township, 1878 to 1909

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Success post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Amherst post office opens
  4. 1887Post officeThe Amherst post office closes
  5. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1909Post officeThe Success post office closes
By decade

Waldo Township, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Detailed map of2010Detailed map ofMapKSMap-doton-Waldo2005KSMap-doton-Waldo
People over time

Waldo Township, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 279

Between 30 and 279 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Success
1878–1909
Amherst
1886–1887
18701950today
Gone or out of use
AmherstlocaleSuccesslocale
1cemetery inside Waldo Township
Amherst

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.

Luray Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townParadise Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCenter TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRussell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Waldo Township’s history

What year was Waldo Township founded?

The Waldo Township post office opened in 1888, 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 (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.