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History · Parish Grove Township

Parish Grove Township’s post office opened in 1856, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1890.

1856first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Parish Grove Township began

When was Parish Grove Township founded?

1856

The Parish Grove Township post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Parish Grove (1856) and Freeland Park (1901), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 648 in 18902020 census: 185170 years
Founding year: the first Parish Grove Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Parish Grove 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 Parish Grove Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Parish Grove Township’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 922 in 1910; 185 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Parish Grove Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Parish Grove Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Parish Grove 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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The story

How Parish Grove Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Parish Grove Township.

Read it all →

Parish Grove Township was one of the county's original three created in 1840. The grove for which it is named grew close to the township's southeastern corner, near what is now the intersection of county roads 400 West and 300 South. It originally covered about 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) and contained an abundant variety of trees, including oaks, walnuts, hickory, dogwood, haw, paw paw, sycamore, quaking ash, ironwood, water beach, elm, linn, poplar, ash, sassafras, locust, etc. As late as 1924 there were 37 varieties growing in the grove.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Parish Grove Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 922

Peaked at 922 in 1910; 185 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Timeline

Parish Grove Township, 1856 to 1962

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Parish Grove post office opens
  3. 1863Post officeThe Parish Grove post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Post officeThe Freeland Park post office opens
  6. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 922
  7. 1957Post officeThe Freeland Park post office closes
  8. 1962On 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

Parish Grove Township on the map, 1962 to 1990

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

Parish Grove Township on the 1962 USGS mapParish Grove Township on the 1980 USGS mapParish Grove Township on the 1990 USGS map1962Boswell 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 Parish Grove Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Parish Grove Township

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

See all →
Robert KeithAmerican actor · b. 1898
George AdeAmerican writer, newspaper columnist and playwr… · b. 1866
Eddie CondonUS musician · b. 1905
Matilde MoisantAmerican aviator · b. 1878
B
Burton Y. BerryAmerican diplomat · b. 1901
Jessie SumnerAmerican politician · b. 1898
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

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

Parish Grove
1856–1863
Freeland Park
1901–1957
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FreeFreeland Park

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Center Township3 historic placesB+York TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHickory Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Parish Grove Township’s history

What year was Parish Grove Township founded?

The Parish Grove Township post office opened in 1856, 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, 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.