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History · Blakely Township

2 of Blakely Township’s places are on the National Register

Most of Blakely Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: maps from 1957 on.

2on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

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

Start Blakely Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blakely 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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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.

Caldwell
1873–1885
Freeman
1881–1903
Hoag
1885–1934
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hoag
Gone or out of use
Caldwell SchoolschoolDolen SchoolschoolFreeman SchoolschoolHoag Post Officepost officeSchool Number 22school
1cemetery inside Blakely Township
Freeman Graves - Homestead National Monument of America

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

The story so far

Blakely Township, in brief

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

Blakely Township is one of twenty-four townships in Gage County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 308 at the 2020 census. A 2021 estimate placed the township's population at 306.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 305 in 2010, 311 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Blakely Township, 1873 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Caldwell post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Freeman post office opens
  4. 1885Post officeThe Caldwell post office closes
  5. 1885Post officeThe Hoag post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903Post officeThe Freeman post office closes
  8. 1934Post officeThe Hoag post office closes
  9. 1936BuiltHomestead National Monument of America is built
  10. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
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On the map

Blakely Township on the map, 1957 to 1980

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

Blakely Township on the 1957 USGS mapBlakely Township on the 1980 USGS map1957Beatrice West 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 Blakely Township.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Blakely Township

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1966
Homestead National Monument of America
Homestead National Monument of America, built 1936First Trinity Lutheran Church
BuildingsDistricts
Homestead National Monument of AmericaBuilt 1936
First Trinity Lutheran ChurchBuilding

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Blakely Township

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

See all →
Robert TaylorAmerican actor · b. 1911
Oliver KirkAmerican boxer · b. 1884
W
Willard SchmidtBasketball player · b. 1910
G
Gene L. CoonAmerican screenwriter, TV producer and novelist… · b. 1924
Janet ShawAmerican actress · b. 1919
J
John P. FultonSpecial effects designer · b. 1902
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lincoln TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMidland Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrant Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Blakely Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Blakely Township?

Two places: the Homestead National Monument of America (listed 1966) and the First Trinity Lutheran Church (2016).

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 National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.