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History · Appanoose Township

Appanoose Township’s post office opened in 1836, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Cambre House and Farm. Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1860.

1836first post office
2on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Appanoose Township began

When was Appanoose Township founded?

1836

The Appanoose Township post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Appanoose (1836), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 835 in 18602020 census: 447190 years
Founding year: the first Appanoose Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Appanoose Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Appanoose Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,018 in 1870; 447 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1836: 190 years of Appanoose Township.Old housesHalf of Appanoose Township’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Appanoose Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Appanoose Township, census by census

02004006008001,000190019502000Peak: 1,018

Peaked at 1,018 in 1870; 447 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Appanoose Township’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Appanoose Township, 1836 to 1936

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1836Post officeThe Appanoose post office opens
  3. 1870CensusPopulation peaks at 1,018
  4. 1887Post officeThe Appanoose post office closes
  5. 1887Post officeThe Niota post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Appanoose Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Appanoose Township.

Read it all →

Appanoose Township takes its name from the Meskwaki leader Appanoose, via a paper town of the same name that was platted in the township in 1836. If it had ever been built, the town of Appanoose would have been on the Mississippi River, about two miles northeast of present-day Niota.

The township is one of the original 19 townships of Hancock County, and received its boundaries and name in a report submitted to the county commissioners in February 1850. The first township officers were elected on April 2, 1850.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Appanoose Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Appanoose Township building 2026-08-292026Appanoose Township building 2026-08-29
On the map

Appanoose Township on the map, 1936 to 1964

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Appanoose Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Appanoose Township on the 1936 USGS mapAppanoose Township on the 1964 USGS map1936Fort Madison sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Appanoose Township.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Appanoose Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Cambre House and Farm
Cambre House and Farm
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Creole1
Cambre House and FarmCreole

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Appanoose Township

Nobody well known was born in Appanoose Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Conrad NagelAmerican actor · b. 1897
Dennis O'KeefeAmerican actor · b. 1908
Elsa MaxwellAmerican gossip columnist, author, songwriter, … · b. 1883
Nedra VolzAmerican actress · b. 1908
Richard PageAmerican musician · b. 1953
Ryan BowenAmerican basketball player/coach · b. 1975
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Appanoose, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Appanoose
1836–1887
Niota
1887–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
NiotaOld Niota
Gone or out of use
Appanoose Post Officepost officeCenter SchoolschoolColumbia SchoolschoolCrescent SchoolschoolFrenchtown SchoolschoolMaple Grove SchoolschoolMound SchoolschoolSineles Sunset Stripairport
1cemetery inside Appanoose Township
Appanoose

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Sonora TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPontoosuc TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNauvoo2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNauvoo Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Appanoose Township’s history

What year was Appanoose Township founded?

The Appanoose Township post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Appanoose Township?

2 listings: 1 building, among them the Cambre House and Farm (listed 1984, the first).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.