Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1959 on and old-book passages.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Deer Creek Township’s history is told.
Another post office, Deacon, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Deer Creek Township.
Deer Creek Township was organized in 1842. Deer Creek Township was named from Deer Creek, which was named from herds of wild deer that were often seen near its banks.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Deer Creek Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Deer Creek Township. — This was one of the newer townships, and schools did not commence there until the winter of 1840-41, the first schoolhouse being located on the Hyman farm, and the first teacher therein Josiah Brown. The second teacher in that building was Milton Jarrett, who taught there next season. The second schoolhouse was on the Holland farm, and was in use during the winters until within a few years past, when it was superseded by a more substantial structure. There were seven schoolhouses there
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Cemeteries. — The oldest burial ground in Deer Creek Township is the Fonts Grave-yard in Section 19, laid out by Noah Fouts a few years after his coming to the county. Among the first persons buried here were a Mr. Reagan, John Grist, Mrs. John Grist, and a man by the name of Butler. The Miller Grave-yard, in the northern part of the township, was consecrated to the burial of the dead in 1845, and the first person buried therein was Catherine Miller, who departed this life some time in that year. The Hoover Cemetery, on Deer
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Deer Creek Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Deer Creek Township.
Nobody well known was born in Deer Creek Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
