The story
Read it all →How Echo Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Echo Township.
Echo was platted in 1884, and named for its location in Echo Township. Echo was incorporated in 1892.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Echo Township
Echo Township dates to 1884, and 54% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1900.
1884founded
0on the National Register
54%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Echo Township began
When was Echo Township founded?
1884
Echo Township dates its founding to 1884 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.
First census: 334 in 19002020 census: 133142 years
Founding year: Wikipedia.The full story ↓
What stands out about Echo Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Echo Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Echo Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Echo Township, census by census
Peaked at 490 in 1950; 243 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Echo Township’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Echo Township, 1884 to 1965
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1884FoundingEcho Township is established
- 20th century
- 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 490
- 1965
On 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.
Add from your albumOn the map
Echo Township on the map, 1965 to 1986
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Echo Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1965Echo sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Echo Township.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Echo Township’s history
What year was Echo Township founded?
In 1884, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1900 counted 334 people here.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.