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History · Cottonwood Township

44% of Cottonwood Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1899 on.

0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Cottonwood 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 Cottonwood Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18993 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1985. Watch Cottonwood Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cottonwood Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cottonwood 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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On the map

Cottonwood Township on the map, 1899 to 1985

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

Cottonwood Township on the 1899 USGS mapCottonwood Township on the 1955 USGS mapCottonwood Township on the 1985 USGS map1899St Paul sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story so far

Cottonwood Township, in brief

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

Cottonwood Township is one of twelve townships in Nance County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 63 according to the 2020 census. A 2021 estimate placed the township's population at 63 people.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 73 in 2010, 73 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Cottonwood Township, 1879 to 1899

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Greenwood post office opens
  3. 1891Post officeThe Greenwood post office closes
  4. 1899On 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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Famous people

Famous people close to Cottonwood Township

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

See all →
Grover Cleveland AlexanderAmerican baseball player · b. 1887
W
Wright MorrisAmerican photographer and novelist · b. 1910
Norma PaulusAmerican politician · b. 1933
Jon Lynn ChristensenAmerican politician · b. 1963
R
Randy RasmussenAmerican football player · b. 1945
B
Bernard PalmerAmerican author of Christian juvenile fiction · b. 1914
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

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

Gone or out of use
Glenwood SchoolschoolMount Zion SchoolschoolSchool Number 4localeSchool Number 51schoolSchool Number 60school

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.

Loup Ferry 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 Cottonwood 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 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.