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–Not graded
History · Township 12

Half of Township 12’s homes were built after 1978

Most of Township 12 was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1892 on.

0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Township 12’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 Township 12 are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Township 12 change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Township 12’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Township 12’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Township 12 on the map, 1892 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Township 12. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Township 12 on the 1892 USGS mapTownship 12 on the 1968 USGS mapTownship 12 on the 1985 USGS map1892Pratt 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 Township 12.

The story

How Township 12 came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Township 12.

Read it all →

Township 12 was made up of all of the former McPherson, Saratoga, and Center Townships, as well as the parts of the former Iuka and Valley Townships. All were dissolved in the 1970s to create Township 12.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Township 12, 1878 to 1895

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Saratoga post office opens
  3. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1895Post officeThe Saratoga 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.
Add from your album
Famous people

Famous people close to Township 12

Nobody well known was born in Township 12 itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Bill FarmerAmerican voice actor · b. 1952
E
Ernie BarrettAmerican basketball player · b. 1929
Brad ZieglerAmerican baseball player · b. 1979
Everett SheltonAmerican football player, basketball coach, col… · b. 1898
M
Mary Francis ShuraUS writer · b. 1923
William MarriottAmerican baseball player · b. 1893
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Brehm Oil and Gas FieldoilfieldChitwood Oil FieldoilfieldIrenelocaleRollingson Oil FieldoilfieldSaratogalocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Township 12
CairoSaratoga

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.

Township 92 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTownship 112 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTownship 6Its storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTownship 7Its storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRural TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Township 12’s history

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, 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.