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History · Bacon Township

Bacon Township’s post office opened in 1881, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1939 on.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bacon Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bacon Township began

When was Bacon Township founded?

1881

The Bacon Township post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Bacon (1881) and Fairhaven (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 614145 years
Founding year: the first Bacon Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bacon 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bacon Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bacon Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bacon Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewBacon Bridge, Spanning Moniteau Creek: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
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.

Bacon
1881–1882
Fairhaven
1890–1908
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Fair Haven
Gone or out of use
Fair Haven SchoolschoolHarwood SchoolschoolLefler SchoolschoolPrairie Valley SchoolschoolRoberts SchoolschoolRobinson Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bacon Township
Green LawnGreen MoundLeflerMaus

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

The story so far

Bacon Township, in brief

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

Bacon Township is a township in Vernon County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. Bacon Township was erected in 1856, taking its name from James Bacon, a pioneer citizen.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 669 to 614 (-8%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Bacon Township, 1881 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Bacon post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Bacon post office closes
  4. 1890Post officeThe Fairhaven post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1908Post officeThe Fairhaven post office closes
  7. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bacon Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Bacon Bridge, Spanning Moniteau CreekDate?Bacon Bridge, Spanning Moniteau Creek
On the map

Bacon Township on the map, 1939 to 1991

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

Bacon Township on the 1939 USGS mapBacon Township on the 1991 USGS map1939Eldorado Springs North 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 Bacon Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bacon Bridge, Spanning Moniteau Creek
Retake this viewBacon Bridge, Spanning Moniteau Creek

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bacon Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Bacon Township

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

See all →
John HustonAmerican film director, screenwriter, and actor · b. 1906
Eva BowringAmerican politician · b. 1892
C
C. Jay CoxAmerican screenwriter and director · b. 1962
V
Vester PeggAmerican actor · b. 1889
D
Donald L. CoxMember of the Black Panther Party · b. 1936
Kimbrough StoneUnited States federal judge · b. 1875
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Rockville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBlue Mound TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClear Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bacon Township’s history

What year was Bacon Township founded?

The Bacon Township post office opened in 1881, 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 →
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 the Library of Congress (1), 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.