The story
Read it all →How Union Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Union Township.
The Potts Creek Rockshelter was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Union Township
13% of Union Township’s homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1890.
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
What stands out about Union Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Mifflin
Sterling
Grantsburg
West Fork
Sulphur Well
Sulphur Wells
Sulphur
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
GrantsburgMifflinSulphurSulphur SpringsWest Fork
Gone or out of use
Dexter Welloilfield
11cemeteries and burying grounds inside Union Township
DoanFesslerGoadGrantsburgHeddenKeysackerMifflinOld UnionPleasant RidgeUnion Chapel YatesWest Fork
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Union Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Union Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Union Township, 1848 to 1967
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1848Post officeThe Mifflin post office opens
- 1848Post officeThe Sterling post office opens
- 1854Post officeThe Sterling post office closes
- 1854Post officeThe Grantsburg post office opens
- 20th century
- 1956
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1967Post officeThe Mifflin post office closes
By decade
Union Township, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2012On the map
Union Township on the map, 1956 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Union Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1956Taswell sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Union Township.
People over time
Union Township, census by census
Between 717 and 1,726 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Union Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Union Township
Nobody well known was born in Union Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Union Township’s history
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), 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.