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History · Douglas Grove Township

Douglas Grove Township’s post office opened in 1875, and 62% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1952 on.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
62%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Douglas Grove Township began

When was Douglas Grove Township founded?

1875

The Douglas Grove Township post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Douglas Grove (1875), Coburgh (1884) and Wescott (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 81151 years
Founding year: the first Douglas Grove Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Douglas Grove 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 Douglas Grove Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Douglas Grove Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Douglas Grove Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Douglas Grove Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Douglas Grove 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.

Douglas Grove
1875–1888
Coburgh
1884–1904
Wescott
1888–1901
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Wescott
Gone or out of use
Coburg SchoolschoolCoburgh Post Officepost officeDry Valley SchoolschoolGlazier SchoolschoolHyde Ranch AirportairportMills SchoolschoolStokes SchoolschoolWescott Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Douglas Grove Township
Douglas GroveDry Valley

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

The story so far

Douglas Grove Township, in brief

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

Douglas Grove Township is one of thirty-one townships in Custer County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 77 at the 2020 census. A 2021 estimate placed the township's population at 76. Douglas Grove Township was named for Edward Douglass, a pioneer settler.

Its first post office opened in 1875. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 97 to 81 (-16%).

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

Timeline

Douglas Grove Township, 1875 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Douglas Grove post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Coburgh post office opens
  4. 1888Post officeThe Douglas Grove post office closes
  5. 1888Post officeThe Wescott post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1901Post officeThe Wescott post office closes
  8. 1904Post officeThe Coburgh post office closes
  9. 1952On 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

Douglas Grove Township on the map, 1952 to 1994

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

Douglas Grove Township on the 1952 USGS mapDouglas Grove Township on the 1978 USGS mapDouglas Grove Township on the 1985 USGS mapDouglas Grove Township on the 1994 USGS map1952Sargent SE 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 Douglas Grove Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Comstock TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSargent TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSpring Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townComstockIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLillian TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWesterville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGarfield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Douglas Grove Township’s history

What year was Douglas Grove Township founded?

The Douglas Grove Township post office opened in 1875, 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 →
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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.