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History · Downs

Downs’s history is
mostly unwritten

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

0old images & papers
1historic places
0recent photos

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

Downs had its start in the year 1879 when the Central Branch Railroad was extended to that point. It was named for William F. Downs, a railroad official from Atchison. Downs became an incorporated town in December of the same year. In 1910, the city had a population of 1,427. Business included two newspapers, a public library, flour mills, grain elevators, and an opera house.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Be one of the first

Start Downs’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people from Downs

See all 2 →
FSFrancis SchmidtSportsRobert H. FelixRobert H. FelixNotable
By decade

Downs, 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 Downs is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Downs has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is H.F. Smith House in Wellington, 9.4 miles away.

Downs and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Downs. Tap a dot.
H.F. Smith HouseDowntown Wellington Historic DistrictEdwin Smith HouseWellington Carnegie LibraryUS Post Office-CaldwellCaldwell Carnegie Library

Closest to Downs

H.F. Smith HouseWellington · Built 18869.4miDowntown Wellington Historic DistrictWellington · District9.7miEdwin Smith HouseWellington · Built 19359.7miWellington Carnegie LibraryWellington · Built 19169.8miUS Post Office-CaldwellCaldwell · Built 194010.4mi

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. H.F. Smith House’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Downs?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Downs’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
📜 Chikaskia📜 Osborne📜 Jackson📜 Mayfield

From the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Downs, KSSumner 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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