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BHistory
History · Wamego Township

Wamego Township’s post office opened in 1866, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #70 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1890.

1866first post office
4on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

How Wamego Township began, and where its name came from

When was Wamego Township founded?

1866

The Wamego Township post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,473 in 18902020 census: 5,670160 years

How did Wamego Township get its name?

Wamego Township was named for a Potawatomi Native American chief.

How historic is Wamego Township?

B

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Wamego Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wamego Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #70 of 151 in Kansas. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wamego Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 56%
NewerOlder
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 54%

Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Wamego Township’s 7.0 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Wamego Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wamego Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wamego Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
On the National Register

4 historic places in Wamego Township

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts

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

The story

How Wamego Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wamego Township.

Read it all →

Wamego was platted in 1866. It was named for a Potawatomi Native American chief.

The first post office in Wamego was established in October 1866.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Wamego Township, decade by decade

On the map

Wamego Township on the map, 1953 to 1978

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

Wamego Township on the 1953 USGS mapWamego Township on the 1978 USGS map1953Wamego sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Wamego Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,00019001920194019601980200020204,841

Grew from 1,473 people in 1890 to 4,841 in 2020, 3 times over.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Wamego Township’s history

What year was Wamego Township founded?

The Wamego Township post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Wamego Township rank for history?

Wamego Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #70 of 151 in Kansas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Wamego Township?

17% of Wamego Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1976.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.