Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to West Point 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 · West Point Township

West Point Township’s post office opened in 1838, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1961 on.

1838first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How West Point Township began

When was West Point Township founded?

1838

The West Point Township post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, West Point (1838) and Vinton (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 439188 years
Founding year: the first West Point Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about West Point 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 West Point Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s West Point Township.Deep rootsA post office since 1838: 188 years of West Point Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start West Point Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Point 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
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.

West Point
1838–1881
Vinton
1871–1904
18301930today
Gone or out of use
Forbes SchoolschoolVintonlocaleWillow Branch Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside West Point Township
ForbesWalleyWest Point

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

Timeline

West Point Township, 1838 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Post officeThe West Point post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Vinton post office opens
  4. 1881Post officeThe West Point post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1904Post officeThe Vinton post office closes
  7. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

West Point Township, in brief

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

West Point 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 573. West Point Township took its name from the community of West Point, which is now considered a ghost town.

Its first post office opened in 1838. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 505 to 439 (-13%).

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

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.
Add from your album
On the map

West Point Township on the map, 1961 to 1981

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

West Point Township on the 1961 USGS mapWest Point Township on the 1973 USGS mapWest Point Township on the 1981 USGS map1961Amoret 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 West Point Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to West Point Township

Nobody well known was born in West Point 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
B
Burt McKinnieAmateur golfer · b. 1879
George H. ChristopherAmerican politician · b. 1888
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Elkhart TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHomer TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWest Boone TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about West Point Township’s history

What year was West Point Township founded?

The West Point Township post office opened in 1838, 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 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.