TownTapestry
Sign inJoin
WellsGood morning
History · Wells

Wells’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Wells. 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

Wells Township is a township in Marshall County, Kansas, United States.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 120 to 97 (-19%). Half of its homes were built before 1938.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Wells 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 Wells’s collection

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

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

Wells, 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 Wells is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Wells has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Barrett Schoolhouse in Vermillion, 4.6 miles away.

Wells and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Wells. Tap a dot.
Barrett SchoolhouseRobidoux Creek Pratt Truss BridgeOld Frankfort City JailFrankfort SchoolBlue Rapids LibraryAlcove Springs

Closest to Wells

Barrett SchoolhouseVermillion · Building4.6miRobidoux Creek Pratt Truss BridgeVermillion · Built 19105.1miOld Frankfort City JailFrankfort · Building6miFrankfort SchoolFrankfort · Built 19036miBlue Rapids LibraryBlue Rapids · Building6.9mi

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. Barrett Schoolhouse’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Wells?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Wells’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
📜 Blue Rapids City📜 Frankfort📜 Center📜 Bigelow
The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Wells, KSMarshall CountyView boundary

Nearby

All towns & citiesExplore the map

Local begins with a boundary.

See what belongs to your selected town.

Loading boundary…

Wells is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

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