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History · Keytesville Township

Keytesville Township dates to 1830, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1870.

1830founded

3on the National Register

24%homes built before 1940

2old photos & papers

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Keytesville Township’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Keytesville Township began

When was Keytesville Township founded?

1830

Keytesville Township dates its founding to 1830 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 529 in 18702020 census: 875196 years

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1818.The full story ↓

What stands out about Keytesville 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 writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18904 editions of the USGS map, 1890 to 1985. Watch Keytesville Township change.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,127 in 1900; 440 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Keytesville Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Keytesville Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Keytesville Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewKeytesville as seen from the Champlin P…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Keytesville Township on the map, 1890 to 1985

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

Keytesville Township on the 1890 USGS map

Keytesville Township on the 1956 USGS map

Keytesville Township on the 1978 USGS map

Keytesville Township on the 1985 USGS map

1890Glasgow 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 Keytesville Township.

People over time

Keytesville Township, census by census

Peaked at 1,127 in 1900; 440 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Keytesville Township’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Keytesville Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Keytesville Township.

Read it all →

The town is named for James Keyte, an Englishman and Methodist preacher who purchased a large parcel of land in 1830 and, two years later, donated fifty acres of it to Chariton County to establish a seat of county government. Until then, county business had been conducted from "Old Chariton," a village near the confluence of the Chariton and Missouri Rivers that was plagued by disease-spreading mosquitoes and subject to repeated flooding.

James Keyte constructed the first home in Keytesville, and the first business as well. Both were log structures, with the second doubling as a post office. Keyte also created the town's first industry when he constructed a mill near his home on Mussel Fork Creek.

ChaptersConfederate raid Late 19th century Keytesville today

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Keytesville Township, 1818 to 1906

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

19th century
1818Post officeThe Chariton post office opens
1830
FoundingKeytesville Township is established
1845Post officeThe Chariton post office closes
1865In the archiveKeytesville as seen from the Champlin Place
1890On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1893Post officeThe Eccles post office opens
20th century
1900CensusPopulation peaks at 1,127
1906Post officeThe Eccles post office closes

By decade

Keytesville Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s2 items

c. 1865Keytesville as seen from the Champlin Place

Today4 recent

2012KeytesvilleMo3

2012KeytesvilleMo2

2012KeytesvilleMo1

2012CharitonCoCourthouse

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.

Retake this viewKeytesville as seen from the Champlin Place, c. 1865

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

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

3 historic places in Keytesville Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

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

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

Chariton

1818–1845

Eccles

1893–1906

18101920today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Eccles

Gone or out of use

Agee SchoolschoolAllen SchoolschoolBell SchoolschoolCotterell SchoolschoolEast Indian Grove SchoolschoolHill SchoolschoolHurt SchoolschoolLowery SchoolschoolO'Bryan SchoolschoolScribner SchoolschoolSwain SchoolschoolWalker Schoolschool

5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Keytesville Township

AsburyBennettBrooksPorter ChapelVarner

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.

Salisbury Township2 historic placesA⁻Wayland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Musselfork TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Brunswick Township1 historic placeA Chariton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Bowling Green Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Salt Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Cockrell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Keytesville3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Keytesville Township’s history

What year was Keytesville Township founded?

In 1830, according to Wikidata. Keytesville Township’s post office opened in 1818, and the census of 1870 counted 529 people here.

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.

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