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History · Lone Tree Township

30% of Lone Tree Township’s homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: maps from 1899 on.

2on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Lone Tree 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 Lone Tree 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 1983. Watch Lone Tree Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lone Tree Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lone Tree 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

Lone Tree Township on the map, 1899 to 1983

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

Lone Tree Township on the 1899 USGS mapLone Tree Township on the 1962 USGS mapLone Tree Township on the 1983 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 Lone Tree Township.

The story

How Lone Tree Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lone Tree Township.

Read it all →

Lone Tree Township takes its name from a large cottonwood tree that was a local landmark on the prairie until it was toppled in a storm in 1865.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lone Tree Township, 1880 to 1899

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Merrick post office opens
  3. 1887BuiltNelson Farm is built
  4. 1888Post officeThe Merrick post office closes
  5. 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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On the National Register

2 historic places in Lone Tree 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
1980
Morris, Wright, Boyhood House
Morris, Wright, Boyhood HouseNelson Farm, built 1887
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Late Victorian1
Folk Victorian1
Bungalow1
Craftsman1
Rural Vernacular1
Morris, Wright, Boyhood HouseVernacular
Nelson FarmLate Victorian · Built 1887

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Lone Tree Township

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

See all →
Henry FondaAmerican actor · b. 1905
Evan WilliamsAmerican technology entrepreneur · b. 1972
Edith AbbottAmerican economist · b. 1876
J
J. P. GuilfordAmerican psychologist · b. 1897
George BairdAthletics competitor · b. 1907
Grace AbbottSocial worker · b. 1878
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Paddock
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lone Tree Township
BurkeCentral City

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.

Prairie Island Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChapman Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCentral TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMead TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPrairie Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lone Tree Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Lone Tree Township?

Two places: the Morris, Wright, Boyhood House (listed 1980) and the Nelson Farm (2009).

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), Wikipedia, 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.