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History · Spruce Township

Spruce Township dates to 1881, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1887 on.

1881founded
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Spruce Township began

When was Spruce Township founded?

1881

Spruce Township dates its founding to 1881 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1853.

2020 census: 303145 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1853.

What stands out about Spruce 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 Spruce Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18873 editions of the USGS map, 1887 to 1981. Watch Spruce Township change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Spruce Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spruce Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Spruce Township on the map, 1887 to 1981

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

Spruce Township on the 1887 USGS mapSpruce Township on the 1894 USGS mapSpruce Township on the 1981 USGS map1887Butler 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 Spruce Township.

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.

Johnstown
1853–1916
Ballard
1884–1907
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BallardJohnstown
Gone or out of use
Johnstown Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Spruce Township
AntiochPoageWalnut Grove

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

The story so far

Spruce Township, in brief

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

Spruce is an unincorporated community in northeast Bates County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. The community is on Missouri Route H approximately ten miles east of Butler. The headwaters of South Deepwater Creek flow past the south side of the community. Spruce was laid out in 1881, and named after a nearby post office of the same name. The Spruce post office closed in 1957.

Spruce Township was established in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 330 to 303 (-8%).

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

Timeline

Spruce Township, 1853 to 1916

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853Post officeThe Johnstown post office opens
  3. 1881
    FoundingSpruce Township is established
  4. 1884Post officeThe Ballard post office opens
  5. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1907Post officeThe Ballard post office closes
  8. 1916Post officeThe Johnstown post office closes
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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Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Deepwater TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWalker TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMingo TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townShawnee TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Spruce Township’s history

What year was Spruce Township founded?

In 1881, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Spruce Township’s post office opened in 1853.

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.