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History · Achilles Township

Achilles Township’s post office opened in 1879

Most of Achilles Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1951 on.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Achilles Township began

When was Achilles Township founded?

1879

The Achilles Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Achilles (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 41147 years
Founding year: the first Achilles Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Achilles 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 Achilles Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Achilles Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Achilles 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 Achilles Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Achilles Township.

Read it all →

Its heyday began in the 1870s and ended in roughly 1915 when the railroad bypassed Achilles and with more use of the automobile, Achilles declined. Most of the businesses were defunct by the mid- to late-1930s. There was a legendary incident on April 24, 1875, referred to as the "battle of Achilles" that was a fight between a band of 20 hunters and some Indians at a water hole about five miles south of the village.

A post office was opened in Achilles in 1879, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1951. The money order post office was connected by stage at one point with Colby, where it received a daily mail. The population was 70 in 1910, and was a principal trading point in the southwestern part of the county.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Achilles Township, 1879 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Achilles post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1951Post officeThe Achilles post office closes
  5. 1951On 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.

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On the map

Achilles Township on the map, 1951 to 1965

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

Achilles Township on the 1951 USGS mapAchilles Township on the 1965 USGS map1951Achilles sheet · 1:62,500

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Achilles
Gone or out of use
Valley View Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Achilles Township
Achilles

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.

Herl TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBassettville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townJefferson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Achilles Township’s history

What year was Achilles Township founded?

The Achilles Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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, 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.