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History · Harp Township

Harp Township dates to 1858

Most of Harp Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1930.

1858founded
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

How Harp Township began

When was Harp Township founded?

1858

Harp Township dates its founding to 1858 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 658 in 19302020 census: 310168 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓

What stands out about Harp Township’s past

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

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Harp Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Harp
1870–1871
Birkbeck
1882–1936
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Birkbeck
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Harp Township
GriffithWillmore

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

The story

How Harp Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Harp Township.

Read it all →

The earliest known pioneer to settle in Harp Township was Solomon Cross who erected a log cabin deep in a forest of oak trees in 1830. The cabin was 16 feet by 18 feet and built of rough unhewn logs. The cabin stood fifty years before it was destroyed.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Harp Township, 1858 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858
    FoundingHarp Township is established
  3. 1870Post officeThe Harp post office opens
  4. 1871Post officeThe Harp post office closes
  5. 1882Post officeThe Birkbeck post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1936Post officeThe Birkbeck post office closes
  8. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

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On the map

Harp Township on the map, 1957 to 1999

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

Harp Township on the 1957 USGS mapHarp Township on the 1979 USGS mapHarp Township on the 1999 USGS map1957Maroa 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 Harp Township.

People over time

Harp Township, census by census

010020030040050060070019401960198020002020Peak: 698

Between 250 and 698 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Harp Township

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

See all →
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Harp Township’s history

What year was Harp Township founded?

In 1858, according to Wikidata. Harp Township’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1930 counted 658 people here.

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 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.