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History · Elm Township

29% of Elm Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1912 on.

0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Elm Township’s past

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

Lost villages6 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Elm Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Elm Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old burying grounds15 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elm Township.Old housesHalf of Elm Township’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Hartford
1851–1900
Martinstown
1857–1900
Graysville
1875–1906
Sidney
1889–1908
Mapleton
1891–1909
Lowground
1893–1913
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
GraysvilleHartfordLickskilletLowgroundMartinstownSidney
Gone or out of use
Bradshaw SchoolschoolClark SchoolschoolGraysville SchoolschoolHartford SchoolschoolHaynes SchoolschoolHusted SchoolschoolIndependent SchoolschoolLedford SchoolschoolLowground Schoolschool
15cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elm Township
BlandBunkerCain FordHatfieldHoggHurleyHustedJohnsonLedfordLippLone PinePleasant HomeRoseWorthingtonYoung

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

Help out

Start Elm Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elm 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
The story so far

Elm Township, in brief

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

Elm Township is a township in southeastern Putnam County, Missouri. The organization date and origin of the name of Elm Township is unknown.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 579 to 514 (-11%).

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

Timeline

Elm Township, 1851 to 1912

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe Hartford post office opens
  3. 1857Post officeThe Martinstown post office opens
  4. 1875Post officeThe Graysville post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900Post officeThe Hartford post office closes
  7. 1900Post officeThe Martinstown post office closes
  8. 1906Post officeThe Graysville post office closes
  9. 1912On 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

Elm Township on the map, 1912 to 1974

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

Elm Township on the 1912 USGS mapElm Township on the 1974 USGS map1912Green City 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 Elm Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Elm Township

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

See all →
Geraldine PageAmerican actress · b. 1924
G
Gordon BellAmerican computer engineer · b. 1934
Simon EstesAmerican opera singer · b. 1938
Farrell DobbsAmerican labour organizer, left-wing politician… · b. 1907
Rhonda VincentAmerican musician · b. 1962
Rupert HughesAmerican writer · b. 1872
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Richland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLiberty TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrant TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Elm 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, 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.