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History · Chester Township

Chester Township dates to 1876, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940

1876founded
0on the National Register
45%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Chester Township began

When was Chester Township founded?

1876

Chester Township dates its founding to 1876 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1871.

2020 census: 954150 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1871.The full story ↓

What stands out about Chester 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 Chester Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Chester Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Chester Township’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chester Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chester 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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Five PointsGreenvilleKeystone
Gone or out of use
Brinnemans Headacres Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Chester Township
MillerSnow

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

The story

How Chester Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chester Township.

Read it all →

Chester Township is home to the 5 Points School. It was built in 1876 and served as a school periodically through the late 1930s. It also served as a Grange Hall and many other community meetings were held here. While the 5 Points School stands to this day, its successor the Chester Center School, which was built in 1923, was demolished 43 years later in 1966 after the districts in southern Wells County were consolidated.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chester Township, 1871 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Keystone post office opens
  3. 1876
    FoundingChester Township is established
  4. 20th century
  5. 1957Post officeThe Keystone 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.
Add from your album
Famous people

Famous people close to Chester Township

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

See all →
Everett ScottAmerican baseball player · b. 1892
J
Jim Paxson, Sr.American basketball player · b. 1932
D
Don LashAmerican athlete and politician · b. 1912
Joseph Warren FordneyAmerican politician · b. 1853
A
Adam BallingerAmerican/Australian basketball player · b. 1979
Daniel W. WaughAmerican politician · b. 1842
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Harrison Township1 historic placeA−Nottingham TownshipIts storyB+Jackson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLiberty TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Chester Township’s history

What year was Chester Township founded?

In 1876, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Chester Township’s post office opened in 1871.

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, 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.