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History · Elk Creek Township

14% of Elk Creek Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1951 on.

0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Elk Creek 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 Elk Creek Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Elk Creek Township.Old housesHalf of Elk Creek Township’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elk Creek Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elk Creek Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Pilot
1880–1909
Tufford
1884–1903
Beechville
1885–1889
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Beechville Post Officepost officeBeechville SchoolschoolFlat Bottom SchoolschoolLower Cat CreekschoolPilot Post Officepost officePilot SchoolschoolSunny Slope SchoolschoolTufford Post Officepost officeTufford SchoolschoolWillow Dell Schoolschool

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

The story so far

Elk Creek Township, in brief

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

Elk Creek Township is one of thirty-one townships in Custer County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 131 at the 2020 census. A 2021 estimate placed the township's population at 130.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 126 to 129 (+2%).

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

Timeline

Elk Creek 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 Pilot post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Tufford post office opens
  4. 1885Post officeThe Beechville post office opens
  5. 1889Post officeThe Beechville post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903Post officeThe Tufford post office closes
  8. 1909Post officeThe Pilot post office closes
  9. 1951On 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

Elk Creek Township on the map, 1951 to 1985

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

Elk Creek Township on the 1951 USGS mapElk Creek Township on the 1985 USGS map1951Mason City 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 Elk Creek Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Elk Creek Township

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

See all →
Earl CooperAmerican racecar driver · b. 1886
Alva R. FitchUnited States Army general · b. 1907
E
Edmund JaegerAmerican biologist · b. 1887
John Coleman PickettUnited States federal judge · b. 1896
Earl J. AtkissonColonel of the 1st Gas Regiment in World War I · b. 1886
A
Amanda GrosserodeAmerican politician · b. 1975
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 townLoup TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Elk Creek 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.