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History · Myrtle Township

Myrtle Township’s post office opened in 1878, and 74% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1951 on.

1878first post office
0on the National Register
74%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Myrtle Township began

When was Myrtle Township founded?

1878

The Myrtle Township post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Myrtle (1878) and Lee Park (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 92148 years
Founding year: the first Myrtle Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Myrtle 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 Myrtle Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Myrtle Township’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Myrtle Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Myrtle Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Myrtle 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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The story so far

Myrtle Township, in brief

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

Myrtle Township is one of thirty-one townships in Custer County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 99 at the 2020 census. A 2021 estimate placed the township's population at 98.

Its first post office opened in 1878. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 102 to 92 (-10%).

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Myrtle
1878–1884
Lee Park
1879–1905
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Ash Canyon SchoolschoolBanner SchoolschoolClear Creek SchoolschoolDeem SchoolschoolKnight SchoolschoolLee Park Post Officepost officeMyrtle Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Myrtle Township
Lee ParkLibertySacred Heart

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

Timeline

Myrtle Township, 1878 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Myrtle post office opens
  3. 1879Post officeThe Lee Park post office opens
  4. 1884Post officeThe Myrtle post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905Post officeThe Lee Park post office closes
  7. 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

Myrtle Township on the map, 1951 to 1985

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

Myrtle Township on the 1951 USGS mapMyrtle Township on the 1985 USGS map1951Ansley 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 Myrtle Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Myrtle Township

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

See all →
Earl CooperAmerican racecar driver · b. 1886
Clyde E. ElliottAmerican film director · b. 1885
E
Edmund JaegerAmerican biologist · b. 1887
Earl J. AtkissonColonel of the 1st Gas Regiment in World War I · b. 1886
A
Amanda GrosserodeAmerican politician · b. 1975
C
Chris PetersonAmerican politician · b. 1950
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Spring Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWesterville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAlgernon Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAnsley Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townArcadia Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Myrtle Township’s history

What year was Myrtle Township founded?

The Myrtle Township post office opened in 1878, 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.