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History · Blaine Township

100% of Blaine Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1893 on.

0on the National Register
100%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Blaine 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 Blaine Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18933 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1985. Watch Blaine Township change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Blaine Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Blaine Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blaine 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

Blaine Township on the map, 1893 to 1985

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

Blaine Township on the 1893 USGS mapBlaine Township on the 1973 USGS mapBlaine Township on the 1985 USGS map1893Smith Center 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 Blaine Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Custer
1876–1894
Bellaire
1888–1980
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bellaire
Gone or out of use
Custerlocale

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

The story

How Blaine Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Blaine Township.

Read it all →

Many of the first settlers or their family members had originally immigrated to America during the Great Famine of Ireland and then slowly moved westward. The immigrants established the settlement of Butler City along Bluff Creek which served as the first settlers' main water source. Butler City was officially platted at tier 6 south, ranges 9 and 10 east on October 14, 1879; the young town's namesake was Father Thomas Ambrose Butler, an Irish Priest in St. Louis, who encouraged the original settlers to "colonize" in and around modern day Blaine. The community initially was settled by 60 Irish Catholics families in 1873. The Irish emigrants came from a poor Irish neighborhood of St. Louis known as the "Kerry Patch". A post office was opened in Butler City in 1874

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Blaine Township, 1876 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876Post officeThe Custer post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Bellaire post office opens
  4. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1894Post officeThe Custer post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1980Post officeThe Bellaire 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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Famous people

Famous people close to Blaine Township

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

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Roscoe ArbuckleAmerican actor, director and comedian · b. 1887
P
Paul C. FisherAmerican businessman · b. 1913
Kevin SaundersAmerican paralympian · b. 1955
N
Nolan CromwellAmerican football player · b. 1955
B
Braden WilsonAmerican football player · b. 1989
F
Frank PatteeAmerican football player · b. 1924
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Center Township3 historic placesACora TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOak TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCrystal Plains TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Blaine 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.