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History · Walnut Township

Walnut Township’s post office opened in 1877, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Little Walnut Creek Bowstring. Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1880.

1877first post office
1on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Walnut Township began

When was Walnut Township founded?

1877

The Walnut Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Osborn (1867) and Brazilton (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 196 in 18802020 census: 487149 years
Founding year: the first Walnut Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Walnut 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 Walnut Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 650 in 1920; 187 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Walnut Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Walnut Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Walnut 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
People over time

Walnut Township, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 650

Peaked at 650 in 1920; 187 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

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.

Osborn
1867–1872
Brazilton
1882–1966
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Brazilton
Gone or out of use
Eureka SchoolschoolFair Oak SchoolschoolMaple Grove SchoolschoolMound Valley SchoolschoolOsborn SchoolschoolPleasant Dale SchoolschoolPleasant Valley SchoolschoolRaymond SchoolschoolStar of Hope SchoolschoolSunrise Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Walnut Township
GlenwoodLutheranWalnut

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

The story

How Walnut Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Walnut Township.

Read it all →

Walnut was originally called Glenwood, and under the latter name laid out in 1871. In 1874, it was renamed Walnut after the Little Walnut Creek, on which it is located.

The first post office at Walnut was established in April 1873. Prior to April 1877, the post office's name was officially called Walnut Station. Walnut was served by both the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Walnut Township, 1867 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867Post officeThe Osborn post office opens
  3. 1872Post officeThe Osborn post office closes
  4. 1882Post officeThe Brazilton post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 650
  7. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1966Post officeThe Brazilton post office closes
By decade

Walnut Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
KSMap-doton-Walnut2004KSMap-doton-Walnut
On the map

Walnut Township on the map, 1948 to 1973

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

Walnut Township on the 1948 USGS mapWalnut Township on the 1973 USGS map1948Erie sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Walnut Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Walnut Township

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
1990
Little Walnut Creek Bowstring
Little Walnut Creek Bowstring
Structures
All 1 listings
Little Walnut Creek BowstringStructure · listed 1990

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.

Grant TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWalnut Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSherman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrant TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWalnutIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Walnut Township’s history

What year was Walnut Township founded?

The Walnut Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Walnut Township?

One place: the Little Walnut Creek Bowstring (listed 1990).

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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.