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History · Union Township

14% of Union Township’s homes were built before 1940

0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Union 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 Union Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Union Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Union Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Union 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

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

Bakers Grove
1858–1880
Caput
1871–1895
Irwin
1884–1981
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Irwin
Gone or out of use
Bakers Grove SchoolschoolCaput SchoolschoolFairbanks Post Officepost officeIrwin SchoolschoolOak Grove SchoolschoolPrairie View Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Union Township
Bakers Grove

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

The story so far

Union Township, in brief

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

Union Township is one of fifteen townships in Barton County, Missouri, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 347. Union Township was formed by means of merger, or "union" of existing townships, hence the name.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 507 to 496 (-2%).

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

Timeline

Union Township, 1858 to 1981

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Bakers Grove post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Caput post office opens
  4. 1880Post officeThe Bakers Grove post office closes
  5. 1884Post officeThe Irwin post office opens
  6. 1895Post officeThe Caput post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1981Post officeThe Irwin 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
Famous people

Famous people close to Union Township

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

See all →
Harlow ShapleyAmerican astronomer · b. 1885
Frank D. WilliamsAmerican cinematographer · b. 1893
Bob HarmonAmerican baseball player · b. 1887
L
Lester Thomas DavisAmerican politician · b. 1904
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Barton City TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDrywood TownshipIts storyC+Lamar TownshipIts storyCDoylesport TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCentral TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Union 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 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.