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History · Ellison Township

Ellison Township’s post office opened in 1843, and 63% of its homes were built before 1940

1843first post office
0on the National Register
63%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Ellison Township began

When was Ellison Township founded?

1843

The Ellison Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, New Lancaster (1838), Ellison (1843) and New Lancaster (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 340183 years
Founding year: the first Ellison Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ellison 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 Ellison Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Ellison Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Ellison Township’s homes were built before 1938.Deep rootsA post office since 1843: 183 years of Ellison Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ellison Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ellison 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
Places that used to be

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

Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

New Lancaster
1838–1843
Ellison
1843–1900
New Lancaster
1850–1865
Jackson Corners
1876–1883
Smithshire
1888–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
EllisonNew LancasterSmithshire
Gone or out of use
Center SchoolschoolEllison SchoolschoolEmpire SchoolschoolJackson Corner SchoolschoolMeridian SchoolschoolRaburn SchoolschoolSalem SchoolschoolWard Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ellison Township
AsburySalemTownship

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

The story

How Ellison Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ellison Township.

Read it all →

Smithshire came into being with the building of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway line through the area in 1888. It is the only population center in Ellison Township. The abandoned town of Ellison was two miles (3 km) from Smithshire. Ellison began in the 1830s, but suffered from a catastrophic tornado in 1858, damping its growth. The remaining community moved to Smithshire with the coming of the railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ellison Township, 1838 to 1900

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Post officeThe New Lancaster post office opens
  3. 1843Post officeThe New Lancaster post office closes
  4. 1843Post officeThe Ellison post office opens
  5. 1850Post officeThe New Lancaster post office opens
  6. 1865Post officeThe New Lancaster post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900Post officeThe Ellison post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Ellison Township

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

See all →
Wyatt EarpAmerican lawman · b. 1848
Rosa Smith EigenmannAmerican ichthyologist · b. 1858
Blake SchilbAmerican-Czech basketball player · b. 1983
Emma Smith DeVoeAmerican suffragette · b. 1848
H
Helen NielsenAmerican author and script writer · b. 1918
Ellen DiggsAmerican anthropologist · b. 1906
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Point Pleasant TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRoseville TownshipIts storyB−Media TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTompkins TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Ellison Township’s history

What year was Ellison Township founded?

The Ellison Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 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.