A history of Seneca,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Seneca from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Seneca was founded in 1857. It was named after Seneca County, Ohio. The first post office in Seneca was established in November 1858. Seneca grew up along the wagon route from St. Joseph, Missouri to Oregon and California. British explorer Richard Francis Burton en route to California in 1860 passed through town and noted: "... Seneca, a city consisting of a few shanties ..." Seneca was a station on the Pony Express of the early 1860s. The station was located in the Smith Hotel, at the present-day location of Fourth and Main Streets. Seneca was incorporated as a city in 1870.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Seneca’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District …, 1880: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Seneca
See all 10 →
Seneca, decade by decade
1930s
1970s
1990s
4 historic places in Seneca
Seneca has 4 listings on the National Register, and they protect 42 historic buildings, because Seneca Main Street Historic District alone counts 40.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as 1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kansas - Nemaha County (1880) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (5) and the Library of Congress (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.