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History · Dewey Township

Dewey Township’s post office opened in 1899, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1958 on.

1899first post office
0on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Dewey Township began

When was Dewey Township founded?

1899

The Dewey Township post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Wilders Station (1889), Wilder (1894) and Dewey (1899), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,000127 years
Founding year: the first Dewey Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Dewey 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 Dewey Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Dewey Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Dewey Township’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dewey Township’s collection

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

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

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Wilders Station
1889–1894
Wilder
1894–1933
Dewey
1899–1902
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
RiversideRunnymedeWilders
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Dewey Township
Oak GroveSaint Martins

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

The story so far

Dewey Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dewey Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Dewey Township is one of twenty-one townships in LaPorte County, Indiana, USA. At the 2020 census, its population was 1,000 (up from 935 at 2010) and it contained 421 housing units. Dewey Township was established in 1860.

Its first post office opened in 1899. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 935 to 1,000 (+7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Dewey Township, 1889 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Wilders Station post office opens
  3. 1894Post officeThe Wilders Station post office closes
  4. 1894Post officeThe Wilder post office opens
  5. 1899Post officeThe Dewey post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1902Post officeThe Dewey post office closes
  8. 1933Post officeThe Wilder post office closes
  9. 1958On 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Dewey Township on the map, 1958 to 1984

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

Dewey Township on the 1958 USGS mapDewey Township on the 1984 USGS map1958La Crosse sheet · 1:24,000

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Railroad TownshipIts storyC−Pleasant TownshipIts storyCCass TownshipIts storyBPrairie TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Dewey Township’s history

What year was Dewey Township founded?

The Dewey Township post office opened in 1899, 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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.