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History · Ansley Township

Ansley Township’s post office opened in 1886, and 61% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1900.

1886first post office
1on the National Register
61%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Ansley Township began

When was Ansley Township founded?

1886

The Ansley Township post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Algernon (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 468 in 19002020 census: 613140 years
Founding year: the first Ansley Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ansley 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 Ansley Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Ansley Township’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 817 in 1930; 459 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ansley Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ansley 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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The story

How Ansley Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ansley Township.

Read it all →

Ansley got its start in the year 1886, following construction of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad through the territory. The town was named Ansley in honor of a lady of that name who bought several lots.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Ansley Township, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 817

Peaked at 817 in 1930; 459 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ansley Township’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Ansley Township, 1880 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Algernon post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Algernon post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 817
  6. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Ansley Township, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Ansley Security State Bank in situ 22011Ansley Security State Bank in situ 2Ansley Security State Bank in situ 12011Ansley Security State Bank in situ 1Ansley, Nebraska downtown from SE2010Ansley, Nebraska downtown from SENEMap-doton-Ansley2005NEMap-doton-Ansley
On the map

Ansley Township on the map, 1951 to 1978

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

Ansley Township on the 1951 USGS mapAnsley Township on the 1978 USGS map1951Ansley 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 Ansley Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Ansley Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Algernon, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Algernon Post Officepost officeBox Elder SchoolschoolGonge SchoolschoolHarris SchoolschoolHawk Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Ansley Township
Ansley

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Algernon Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBerwyn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWesterville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMyrtle TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLoup TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Ansley Township’s history

What year was Ansley Township founded?

The Ansley Township post office opened in 1886, 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 →
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 Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.