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History · Otrey Township

76% of Otrey Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1953 on.

0on the National Register
76%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

Where Otrey Township’s name came from

How did Otrey Township get its name?

Otrey Township was named for brothers Thomas and William Otrey, early settlers.

Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Otrey 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 Otrey Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Otrey Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Otrey Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Otrey Township’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
The story

How Otrey Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Otrey Township.

Read it all →

Otrey Township was organized in 1880. It was named for brothers Thomas and William Otrey, early settlers.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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

Otrey Township on the map, 1953 to 1985

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

Otrey Township on the 1953 USGS mapOtrey Township on the 1971 USGS mapOtrey Township on the 1985 USGS map1953Ortonville sheet · 1:62,500

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Eids ChurchchurchSchool Number 42schoolSchool Number 47school
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Otrey Township
EidsEidskogMaple

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.

Malta TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOdessa TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBig Stone TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townArtichoke TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Otrey 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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.