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History · Butternut Valley Township

Butternut Valley Township’s post office opened in 1857, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1965 on.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Butternut Valley Township began

When was Butternut Valley Township founded?

1857

The Butternut Valley Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Butternut Valley (1857) and Butternut (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 298169 years
Founding year: the first Butternut Valley Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Butternut Valley 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 Butternut Valley Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Butternut Valley Township’s homes were built before 1941.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Butternut Valley Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Butternut Valley Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Butternut Valley 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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The story

How Butternut Valley Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Butternut Valley Township.

Read it all →

Butternut Valley Township was organized in 1858, and named after Butternuts, New York, the former home of an early settler.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Butternut Valley
1857–1880
Butternut
1894–1904
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Butternut
Gone or out of use
Butternut Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Butternut Valley Township
Our Saviors

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

Timeline

Butternut Valley Township, 1857 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Butternut Valley post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Butternut Valley post office closes
  4. 1894Post officeThe Butternut post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1904Post officeThe Butternut post office closes
  7. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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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On the map

Butternut Valley Township on the map, 1965 to 1991

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

Butternut Valley Township on the 1965 USGS mapButternut Valley Township on the 1986 USGS mapButternut Valley Township on the 1991 USGS map1965Cambria sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Butternut Valley Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Butternut Valley Township

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

See all →
Tippi HedrenAmerican actress, model and activist · b. 1930
Wanda GágAmerican artist and children's writer · b. 1893
Kathryn Adams DotyActress, psychologist, writer · b. 1920
Brad FinstadAmerican politician · b. 1976
Lenore UlricAmerican actress · b. 1892
David RysdahlAmerican actor · b. 1960
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Judson Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLinden Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCambria Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLincoln TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Butternut Valley Township’s history

What year was Butternut Valley Township founded?

The Butternut Valley Township post office opened in 1857, 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 →
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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 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.