Claflin’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold just one old photo of Claflin. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Prior to American expansion and occupation, the region was controlled by Cheyenne, Pawnee, and Kiowa tribes. The Santa Fe Trail contributed to American settlement in Barton County, as it did throughout Kansas and much of the southern Great Plains.
The first settlement claim recorded in the area of Claflin was made by George Platt in 1870. This claim was divided and re-entered, eventually being sold to J. H. Williamson in 1875, and becoming the town of Claflin.
The community was officially organized in response to Missouri Pacific Railroad plans for a branch line to come through the area.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Claflin’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Claflin’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewClaflin, Kansas (1900), 1900: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Claflin, decade by decade
1990s
Nothing in Claflin is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Claflin has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Holyrood Santa Fe Depot in Valley, 7.6 miles away.
Claflin and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Claflin, Kansas (1900) (1900) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (5). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.