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History · Toronto Township

Toronto Township’s post office opened in 1870, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1886 on and the census since 1880.

1870first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Toronto Township began, and where its name came from

When was Toronto Township founded?

1870

The Toronto Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 88 in 18802020 census: 456156 years

How did Toronto Township get its name?

Toronto Township was named after Toronto, the largest city in Canada and capital city of the province of Ontario.

Founding year: the first Toronto Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Toronto 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 Toronto Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18865 editions of the USGS map, 1886 to 1990. Watch Toronto Township change.Boom and bustPeaked at 829 in 1920; 206 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Toronto Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Toronto 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

Toronto Township on the map, 1886 to 1990

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

Toronto Township on the 1886 USGS mapToronto Township on the 1894 USGS mapToronto Township on the 1969 USGS mapToronto Township on the 1985 USGS mapToronto Township on the 1990 USGS map1886Fredonia 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 Toronto Township.

People over time

Toronto Township, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 829

Peaked at 829 in 1920; 206 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Toronto Township’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Toronto Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Toronto Township.

Read it all →

Toronto was founded in 1869. It was named after Toronto, the largest city in Canada and capital city of the province of Ontario.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.
Add from your album
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Batesville
Gone or out of use
Big Sandy SchoolschoolCarlisle ChurchchurchCarlisle SchoolschoolDry Creek SchoolschoolFlower Hill SchoolschoolLovett SchoolschoolPeck SchoolschoolQuincy Oil FieldoilfieldStone SchoolschoolStony Point Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Toronto Township
CarlisleCedar BluffToronto

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.

Center TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townVerdigris Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPleasant Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townQuincy TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Toronto Township’s history

What year was Toronto Township founded?

The Toronto Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.