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History · Washington Township

Half of Washington Township’s homes were built after 1995

Most of Washington Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 7 old photos and papers and maps from 1946 on.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Washington Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Washington Township’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Washington Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · 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.

Middlebury
1847–1878
Mill Grove
1873–1974
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Mill Grove
Gone or out of use
Calvert SchoolschoolLone Star SchoolschoolStar Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Washington Township
CoonGroffMiddleberryPineSalem

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

The story so far

Washington Township, in brief

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

Washington Township is a township in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. Washington Township was established in 1843.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 411 to 391 (-5%).

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

Timeline

Washington Township, 1847 to 1974

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1847Post officeThe Middlebury post office opens
  3. 1873Post officeThe Mill Grove post office opens
  4. 1878Post officeThe Middlebury post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1908In the archiveWashington Mo. looking south
  7. 1910In the archiveGroup of Young Girls Working in Peerless Box Co
  8. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1974Post officeThe Mill Grove post office closes
By decade

Washington Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s5 items
Washington Mo. looking south1908Washington Mo. looking southWashington Mo. looking west1908Washington Mo. looking westWashington Mo. looking east1908Washington Mo. looking east5th St. residences19085th St. residencesCedar St. residences1908Cedar St. residences
1910s2 items
Group of Young Girls Working in Peerless Box Co1910Group of Young Girls Working in Peerless Box CoGroup of Workers in Peerless Box Co1910Group of Workers in Peerless Box Co
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Washington Township on the map, 1946 to 1984

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

Washington Township on the 1946 USGS mapWashington Township on the 1984 USGS map1946Princeton sheet · 1:62,500

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Washington Mo. looking south
Retake this viewWashington Mo. looking south, 1908

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Washington Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Washington Township

Nobody well known was born in Washington 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
George OveyActor · b. 1870
Leith StevensAmerican music composer and conductor · b. 1909
Mervin Joe KellyAmerican physicist · b. 1894
Help out

Finish Washington Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWashington Mo. looking south: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Morgan Township1 historic placeA−Franklin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMadison TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMedicine TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRavanna TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Washington Township’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (7), 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.