Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Marceline Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Marceline Township

Marceline Township dates to 1887, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #108 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1880.

1887founded
4on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Mitchazenia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Marceline Township began

When was Marceline Township founded?

1887

Marceline Township dates its founding to 1887 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 872 in 18802020 census: 2,603139 years

How historic is Marceline Township?

B

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1887.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Marceline Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marceline Township is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #108 of 247 in Missouri. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Marceline Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1887, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194010.6% of homes (±2.9) · typical MO town 8.4% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register4 listings, 15.4 per 10,000 residents · typical MO town 2.4 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 55%
NewerOlder
Missouri towns of 2,500+ (247)Ahead of 57%

Missouri towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Missouri town has 2.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Marceline Township’s 15.4 sits above most of its state (78% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1887.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Marceline 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 Marceline Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 3,920 in 1910; 2,123 people lived here in 2020.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Marceline Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Marceline 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
People over time

Marceline Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,920

Peaked at 3,920 in 1910; 2,123 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the National Register

4 historic places in Marceline Township

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts

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

The story

How Marceline Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Marceline Township.

Read it all →

In 1887, the Chicago, Santa Fe, and California Railway began construction on a rail line between Chicago and Kansas City, Kansas. It ran through southeast Linn County, prompting new towns such as Marceline. The completed line was absorbed into the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway. The first land parcel in what became the town was sold in January 1888, and the town was incorporated two months later. By the end of the year, it had a railway roundhouse and yard.

In March 1903, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway divided the line into two districts, with the Missouri district headquarters in Marceline.

The town was named after Marcelina, the wife of a railroad man. A post office called Marceline has operated since 1887.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Marceline Township, 1887 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887
    FoundingMarceline Township is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 3,920
  5. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Marceline Township, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Uptown Theatre NRHP 100009101 Linn County, MO2025Uptown Theatre NRHP 100009101 Linn County, MOMarceline Masonic Lodge -481 NRHP 100011561 Linn County, MO2025Marceline Masonic Lodge -481 NRHP 100011561 Linn Coun…Lincoln School NRHP 100011560 Linn County, MO2025Lincoln School NRHP 100011560 Linn County, MOMarceline MO Lib2010Marceline MO Lib
On the map

Marceline Township on the map, 1953 to 1981

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

Marceline Township on the 1953 USGS mapMarceline Township on the 1979 USGS mapMarceline Township on the 1981 USGS map1953Marceline sheet · 1:24,000

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Hardin SchoolschoolMarceline Municipal Airportairport
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Marceline Township
ElmwoodSaint BonaventureStains

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.

Bucklin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townYellow Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClark TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrookfield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townYellow Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Marceline Township’s history

What year was Marceline Township founded?

In 1887, according to Wikidata. Marceline Township’s post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1880 counted 872 people here.

How does Marceline Township rank for history?

Marceline Township is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #108 of 247 in Missouri. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Marceline Township?

11% of Marceline Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1966.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.