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History · Baker Township

16% of Baker Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1949 on.

0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Baker 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 Baker Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Baker Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Baker Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Baker 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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

New Boston
1872–today
Hybrid
1882–1906
Benson
1897–1906
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BensonHybridJohnstownNew BostonSnowdon
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Baker Township
BakerBakerBaugherPleasant Grove BaptistPulliamWyant

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

The story so far

Baker Township, in brief

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

Baker Township is a township in Linn County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. Baker Township has the name of Samuel Baker, a county commissioner.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 196 to 184 (-6%).

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

Timeline

Baker Township, 1872 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe New Boston post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Hybrid post office opens
  4. 1897Post officeThe Benson post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906Post officeThe Hybrid post office closes
  7. 1906Post officeThe Benson post office closes
  8. 1949On 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 album
On the map

Baker Township on the map, 1949 to 1979

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

Baker Township on the 1949 USGS mapBaker Township on the 1950 USGS mapBaker Township on the 1979 USGS map1949Bucklin NW 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 Baker Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Baker Township

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

See all →
John J. PershingUnited States Army general in World War I · b. 1860
Lewis R. FosterScreenwriter, director, producer, television co… · b. 1898
D
Doris AkersAmerican music composer, arranger and singer · b. 1923
Don PrattRecipient of the Purple Heart medal · b. 1892
Dorothy C. StrattonProfessor and dean, director of United States C… · b. 1899
Gene BartowAmerican basketball coach · b. 1930
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Grantsville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Salem TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBucklin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townYellow Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Baker Township’s history

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 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.