Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pittsburg Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1894Beloit 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 Pittsburg Township.
The township's name is derived from William Augustus Pitt, one of the founders of the central town of the township, Tipton. Through about 1901, the township name was spelled "Pittsburgh," and it surrounded a town that had the same name. From 1902 on, the township name dropped the final H.
The first white settlers came to this Pittsburg in 1871. We know from official records that Mr. W. A. Pitt lived here in 1872, one-half mile east of the present town site, on a farm he owned. Mr. Pitt's house served as the local post office. Hence it was hardly surprising that the scattered settlers in and around this territory began to call it Pitt's-burg.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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 the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
1909
