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History · Geneva Township

Geneva Township dates to 1857, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

1857founded
0on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Geneva Township began

When was Geneva Township founded?

1857

Geneva Township dates its founding to 1857 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1858.

2020 census: 147169 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1858.The full story ↓

What stands out about Geneva 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 Geneva Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Geneva Township’s homes were built before 1944.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Geneva Township’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Geneva Township.

Read it all →

The town of Geneva was founded by free-state men in the summer of 1857. A colony was formed in New York under the leadership of Ephraim Fisk, and another in Michigan under the leadership of Merritt Moore. These united, forming the Union Settlement Association, among the prominent members in which were Dr. B.L.G. Stone, G.L. Wait, S.T. Jones, Rev. G.S. Northrup, I.A. Holman, P.P. Phillips, E.J. Brinkerhoff, J.H. Spicer, A.P. Sain, H.R. Somers, Frank Ureidenberg, J.C. Redfield, and J.M. Mattoon. The colony selected the northwestern part of Allen County for a location, and started out with great expectations. There were about 300 families engaged to settle at once. It was decided to locate and lay out a town comprising not less than 640 acres (2.6 km2) of land. The site was chosen on account of the fertile prairie land around, as well as the heavy timber so close along the banks of the …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Geneva Township, 1857 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857
    FoundingGeneva Township is established
  3. 1858Post officeThe Geneva post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1942Post officeThe Geneva 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Geneva
Gone or out of use
Carpenter SchoolschoolWest Liberty Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Geneva Township
CarpenterGeneva

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.

Indian Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNeosho Falls TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townIola TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Geneva Township’s history

What year was Geneva Township founded?

In 1857, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Geneva Township’s post office opened in 1858.

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, 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.