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History · Musselfork Township

Musselfork Township’s post office opened in 1870

Most of Musselfork Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1953 on.

1870first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

How Musselfork Township began

When was Musselfork Township founded?

1870

The Musselfork Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Musselfork (1870), Chraneville (1882) and Mike (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 379156 years
Founding year: the first Musselfork Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Musselfork Township’s past

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

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Musselfork Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Places that used to be

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

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

Musselfork
1870–1939
Chraneville
1882–1902
Mike
1890–1906
Trade
1895–1903
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ChranevilleMikeMusselfork
Gone or out of use
Bills SchoolschoolCook SchoolschoolCrossroads SchoolschoolHolland SchoolschoolLiberty SchoolschoolOldham SchoolschoolPrather Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Musselfork Township
Mount PleasantMusselforkWelch

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

The story

How Musselfork Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Musselfork Township.

Read it all →

Musselfork was founded in the 1870s, and named after nearby Mussel Fork creek. A post office called Muscle Fork was established in 1870, the name was changed to Musselfork in 1895, and the post office closed in 1939.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Musselfork Township, 1870 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Musselfork post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Chraneville post office opens
  4. 1890Post officeThe Mike post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1902Post officeThe Chraneville post office closes
  7. 1906Post officeThe Mike post office closes
  8. 1939Post officeThe Musselfork post office closes
  9. 1953On 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.

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On the map

Musselfork Township on the map, 1953 to 1981

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

Musselfork Township on the 1953 USGS mapMusselfork Township on the 1978 USGS mapMusselfork Township on the 1981 USGS map1953Mike 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 Musselfork Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Musselfork Township

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

See all →
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Musselfork Township’s history

What year was Musselfork Township founded?

The Musselfork Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikipedia, 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.