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History · Cheney

Cheney’s history is
mostly unwritten

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

1884established
0old images & papers
3recent photos

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

Cheney was founded in August, 1883 and was named after Benjamin P. Cheney, a stockholder in the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

Cheney served as a station and shipping point on the Wichita & Pratt division of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

The first post office in Cheney was established in September 1883.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Be one of the first

Start Cheney’s collection

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

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

Cheney, 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
Today3 photos
DowntownCommonsDowntown2026Detailed map ofMapDetailed map of2010KSMap-doton-CheneyCommonsKSMap-doton-Cheney2005
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Cheney is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Cheney has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Louis Werner Barn in Galesburg, 11.8 miles away.

Cheney and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Cheney. Tap a dot.
Louis Werner BarnSt. Mark ChurchMohr BarnKingman Santa Fe DepotKingman County CourthouseKingman City Building

Closest to Cheney

Louis Werner BarnGalesburg · Built 191211.8miSt. Mark ChurchUnion · Built 190613.6miMohr BarnAttica · Building15.8miKingman Santa Fe DepotKingman · Building18.2miKingman County CourthouseKingman · Built 190818.2mi

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. Louis Werner Barn’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Cheney?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Cheney’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
📜 Morton📜 Grand River📜 Vinita📜 Garden Plain

From Wikimedia Commons (3). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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