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History · Big Bend Township

60% of Big Bend Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1892 on.

0on the National Register
60%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Big Bend 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 Big Bend Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Big Bend Township change.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Big Bend Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Big Bend Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Big Bend Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Big Bend 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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On the map

Big Bend Township on the map, 1892 to 1985

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

Big Bend Township on the 1892 USGS mapBig Bend Township on the 1969 USGS mapBig Bend Township on the 1985 USGS map1892Concordia sheet · 1:125,000

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Wilber
1873–1880
Talmage
1880–1882
Warwick
1882–1919
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Warwick
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Big Bend Township
LakeRose Mound

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

The story

How Big Bend Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Big Bend Township.

Read it all →

Big Bend Township was organized in 1872. The first settler in what would become the township was Daniel Davis, and the post office was established in 1871.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Big Bend Township, 1873 to 1919

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Wilber post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Wilber post office closes
  4. 1880Post officeThe Talmage post office opens
  5. 1882Post officeThe Talmage post office closes
  6. 1882Post officeThe Warwick post office opens
  7. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1919Post officeThe Warwick post office closes
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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Stories next door

History across the town line

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

White Rock Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWashington TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townJackson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Big Bend Township’s history

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, 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.