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History · Morton Township

The history of Morton Township

Below: maps from 1889 on.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Morton 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 Morton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18894 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1985. Watch Morton Township change.
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Start Morton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Morton 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

Morton Township on the map, 1889 to 1985

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

Morton Township on the 1889 USGS mapMorton Township on the 1891 USGS mapMorton Township on the 1970 USGS mapMorton Township on the 1985 USGS map1889Larned 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 Morton Township.

The story

How Morton Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Morton Township.

Read it all →

Morton Township was created from part of Pawnee Township in the 1910s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Morton Township, 1889 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909Post officeThe Sanford post office opens
  5. 1954Post officeThe Sanford 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 and old corners

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Sanford

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.

Pleasant Ridge TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrant Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPawnee TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Morton 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.