Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clay Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Clay Township is a township in Harrison County, Missouri, United States. At the 2020 census, its population was 59. Clay Township was split from Marion Township in March, 1858 and takes its name from Henry Clay of Kentucky.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 85 to 59 (-31%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Clay Township in 1921
Passages that mention Clay Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Harrison County, Missouri1921 · page 798Read the page →
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W. E. Riley, farmer and owner of 120 acres of land in Clay Township, has been an intimate factor in the life of Clay Township since the Civil War. He was a teacher here for eighteen years, has operated a farm successfully, raised stock profitably, and is a veteran of the Civil War.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Harrison County, Missouri1921 · page 195Read the page →
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About 1859 the society purchased a lot in Eagleville and later erected a frame building. The Methodists organized a congregation at Akron in Clay Township at an early day and erected a building in 1873. Wesley Chapel, Methodist Episcopal Church, was organized in Washington Township in 1865 or 1866. A frame building was erected in 1873 at a cost of $1,100. A Methodist Episcopal Church was organized at Ridgeway by Rev. Isaac Chivington in 1881 and the first church building was erected in the fall of that year at a cost of $1,400. The Methodist Church was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Clay Township, 1861 to 1945
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clay Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1945Lamoni 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 Clay Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Clay Township
Nobody well known was born in Clay Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
