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History · Bear Creek Township

19% of Bear Creek Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1887 on.

0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Bear Creek 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 Bear Creek Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18873 editions of the USGS map, 1887 to 1983. Watch Bear Creek Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bear Creek Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bear Creek 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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On the map

Bear Creek Township on the map, 1887 to 1983

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

Bear Creek Township on the 1887 USGS mapBear Creek Township on the 1894 USGS mapBear Creek Township on the 1983 USGS map1887Clinton sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story so far

Bear Creek Township, in brief

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

Bear Creek Township is a township in Henry County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. Bear Creek Township was established in 1873, taking its name from Bear Creek. Other creeks are Marshall Creek and Trap Branch.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 183 to 144 (-21%).

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

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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Famous people

Famous people close to Bear Creek Township

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

See all →
V
Vester PeggAmerican actor · b. 1889
D
Donald L. CoxMember of the Black Panther Party · b. 1936
William Tell JohnsonAmerican politician · b. 1848
D
David R. BunchAmerican writer · b. 1925
B
Byron CalameAmerican journalist · b. 1939
W
Warren LoveAmerican politician · b. 1950
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Antioch SchoolschoolFarmers InstituteschoolFranklin SchoolschoolGlenwood SchoolschoolLonevalle SchoolschoolLookout SchoolschoolMorris MinemineWheatley Colored Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bear Creek Township
Bear CreekVickers

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.

Fairview TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDavis TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDeepwater Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bear Creek 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 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.