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–Not graded
History · Township 5

29% of Township 5’s homes were built before 1940

0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Township 5’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 5 are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Township 5.Old housesHalf of Township 5’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Township 5’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Township 5’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Odell
1878–1881
Albion
1883–1902
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Albionlocale
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Township 5
CavalryChristian ApostolicCrystal Springs MennoniteH and SPleasant Valley

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Township 5, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Township 5 yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 412 in 2010, 406 in 2020.

Timeline

Township 5, 1878 to 1902

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Odell post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Odell post office closes
  4. 1883Post officeThe Albion post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1902Post officeThe Albion 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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Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Township 6Its storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDixon Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHarper3 historic placesA−Township 31 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTownship 4Its storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTownship 1Its storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Township 5’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 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.