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History · Shawnee Township

Half of Shawnee Township’s homes were built after 1991

Most of Shawnee Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1887 on.

0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Shawnee 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 Shawnee Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18874 editions of the USGS map, 1887 to 1981. Watch Shawnee Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Shawnee Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Shawnee 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

Shawnee Township on the map, 1887 to 1981

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

Shawnee Township on the 1887 USGS mapShawnee Township on the 1894 USGS mapShawnee Township on the 1961 USGS mapShawnee Township on the 1981 USGS map1887Butler 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 Shawnee Township.

The story so far

Shawnee Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Shawnee Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Shawnee Township is one of twenty-four townships in Bates County, Missouri, and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 277. Shawnee Township has the name of the Shawnee Indians.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 271 to 286 (+6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Shawnee Township, 1887 to 1901

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1894Post officeThe Culver post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Post officeThe Culver 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Shawnee Township

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

See all →
Robert A. HeinleinAmerican author and aeronautical engineer · b. 1907
Vicky HartzlerU.S. Representative from Missouri · b. 1960
Charles O'RearAmerican photographer and author · b. 1941
Wesley BolinAmerican politician · b. 1909
V
Vester PeggAmerican actor · b. 1889
George H. ChristopherAmerican politician · b. 1888
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
CulverlocaleGriggs SchoolschoolHarmony SchoolschoolLittle Deer Creek SchoolschoolOlive SchoolschoolWeMott Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Shawnee Township
CloudFranceNichols

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.

Grand River TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSummit TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSpruce TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMound TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMingo TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Shawnee Township’s history

Memory lane

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

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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 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.