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History · West Cooper Township

37% of West Cooper Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1891 on.

0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about West Cooper 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 West Cooper Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18913 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1985. Watch West Cooper Township change.Old housesHalf of West Cooper Township’s homes were built before 1952.
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Start West Cooper Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Cooper 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

West Cooper Township on the map, 1891 to 1985

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

West Cooper Township on the 1891 USGS mapWest Cooper Township on the 1971 USGS mapWest Cooper Township on the 1985 USGS map1891Great Bend 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 West Cooper Township.

The story so far

West Cooper Township, in brief

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

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 61 to 57 (-7%).

Timeline

West Cooper Township, 1881 to 1895

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Bedford post office opens
  3. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1895Post officeThe Bedford 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 burying grounds

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

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside West Cooper Township
FeldhutStrobel

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.

St. John Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHayes TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast Cooper TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStafford Township5 historic placesA−

Questions about West Cooper 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 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.