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History · Deepwater Township

17% of Deepwater Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 9 old photos and papers and maps from 1887 on.

0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Deepwater Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Deepwater Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 18873 editions of the USGS map, 1887 to 1981. Watch Deepwater Township change.Mystery photos9 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.
★ What stands out · On the map

Deepwater Township on the map, 1887 to 1981

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

Deepwater Township on the 1887 USGS mapDeepwater Township on the 1894 USGS mapDeepwater Township on the 1981 USGS map1887Butler 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 Deepwater Township.

Help out

Start Deepwater Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Deepwater 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 photo9 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHouse: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Deepwater Township, in brief

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

Deepwater Township is one of twenty-four townships in Bates County, Missouri, and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 247. Deepwater Township took its name from a nearby creek.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 307 to 262 (-15%).

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

Timeline

Deepwater Township, 1846 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846Post officeThe Spruce post office opens
  3. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1957Post officeThe Spruce post office closes
By decade

Deepwater Township, decade by decade

Date unknown9 to date
HouseDate?HouseHouse, Road EDate?House, Road ESecond & Front Streets (House)Date?Second & Front Streets (House)John French Farm, South Grand RiverDate?John French Farm, South Grand RiverWilliam C. Lloyd House, Road EDate?William C. Lloyd House, Road EStewart-Rickson House, Road East vicinityDate?Stewart-Rickson House, Road East vicinityMoses Gaskill House, Route W vicinityDate?Moses Gaskill House, Route W vicinityJohn French Outbuilding, South Grand River vicinityDate?John French Outbuilding, South Grand River vicinityJohn French Barn, South Grand River vicinityDate?John French Barn, South Grand River vicinity
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.

House
Retake this viewHouse

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Spruce, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Spruce
Gone or out of use
Cherry Grove SchoolschoolCumpton SchoolschoolOak Grove SchoolschoolValley SchoolschoolWillow Tree Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Deepwater Township
RadfordSmithSnodgrass UnionWhite

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.

Spruce TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSummit TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHudson Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Deepwater 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 the Library of Congress (9), 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.