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History · Medicine Township

20% of Medicine Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1964 on.

0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Medicine 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 Medicine Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Medicine Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Medicine Township’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Medicine Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Medicine 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
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.

Half Rock
1867–1900
Topsy
1885–1906
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Half RockTopsy
Gone or out of use
Bellview SchoolschoolBoatman SchoolschoolBrantley SchoolschoolLyons SchoolschoolPilot Knob SchoolschoolPrairie SchoolschoolRhoades SchoolschoolTopsy Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Medicine Township
BarnesHalf RockWhite Oak

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

The story so far

Medicine Township, in brief

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

Medicine Township is a township in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. Medicine Township was established in 1848, and most likely took its name from a creek of the same name within its borders.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 166 to 135 (-19%).

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

Timeline

Medicine Township, 1867 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867Post officeThe Half Rock post office opens
  3. 1885Post officeThe Topsy post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Half Rock post office closes
  6. 1906Post officeThe Topsy post office closes
  7. 1964On 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

Medicine Township on the map, 1964 to 1981

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

Medicine Township on the 1964 USGS mapMedicine Township on the 1981 USGS map1964Half Rock 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 Medicine Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Medicine Township

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

See all →
Calamity JaneAmerican scout and frontierswoman · b. 1852
Agnes SmedleyAmerican journalist, writer, Comintern spy · b. 1892
Arthur M. HydeAmerican politician · b. 1877
Mervin Joe KellyAmerican physicist · b. 1894
R
Russ DerryAmerican baseball player · b. 1916
J
John C. EnglandUnited States Navy officer · b. 1920
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Ravanna TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMyers TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWashington TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Medicine 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.