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History · Bethany

Bethany’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Bethany. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Bethany Township is a township in Osborne County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 162.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 176 to 162 (-8%). Half of its homes were built before 1938.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bethany yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Bethany’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from BethanyWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Bethany.Meet them →
By decade

Bethany, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Bethany is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Bethany has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Downs Carnegie Library in Downs, 6.1 miles away.

Bethany and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Bethany. Tap a dot.
Downs Carnegie LibraryDowns Missouri Pacific DepotOsborne Public Carnegie LibraryOsborne County CourthouseWisconsin Street Historic DistrictOld Cawker City Library

Closest to Bethany

Downs Carnegie LibraryDowns · Built 19066.1miDowns Missouri Pacific DepotDowns · Building6.2miOsborne Public Carnegie LibraryOsborne · Built 19136.4miOsborne County CourthouseOsborne · Building6.5miWisconsin Street Historic DistrictCawker City · District11.9mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Downs Carnegie Library’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Bethany?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Bethany’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Portis📜 Lawrence📜 Downs📜 Osborne
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Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Bethany, KSOsborne CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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