Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1925 on, and old-book passages.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Washington Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Washington Township.
Washington Township was first organized in 1845 and was named after President George Washington. The township was reduced in size in 1866 and again in 1871 to form Jefferson Township and Grant Township.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Washington Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
At the May term, 1845, the county court laid off Polk Township with the following bounds, to wit : "Beginning at the northeast corner of Washington Township, thence west with said township line till it intersects White Cloud Township line, thence westvvardly with said line till it intersects the line of Atchison Township, thence north with the east line of the aforesaid township to the southeast corner of Buchanan Township, thence eastwardly so as to include the Gray settlement and the Mowry houses
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
in his native county, and in 1840 he emigrated to Missouri, and in the following spring located in Andrew County. He there passed through man)' hardships which all pioneers had to endure, and in 1856 he moved to Nodaway County, locating in Washington Township. There he resided till the fall of 1870, when he returned to Andrew Count)'. The
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
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 · +15Nobody well known was born in Washington Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1908
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1910
