1894 Map of Kingman

About this map

The North Fork Ninnescah River and South Fork Ninnescah River dominate this late 19th-century landscape, carving paths through the grid-iron township system of Reno and Kingman counties. As surveyed by W.H. Herron and R.M. Towson in 1889, the region shows a dense network of emerging rail towns positioned along major arteries. The Kingman townsite serves as a central hub where the Wichita and Western Railroad meets the river, while the Chicago Kansas and Nebraska Railroad and Missouri Pacific Railroad cut diagonal paths across the section lines. Smaller settlements like Lerado, Penalosa, and Olcott dot the prairies between the larger centers of Arlington and Sylvia. This survey illustrates the precise geometric division of the Kansas plains, where township boundaries like Loda, Roscoe, and Ninnescah dictated the early organization of rural communities and homesteads.