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History · Pender Township

Pender Township’s post office opened in 1885, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1966 on, and the census since 1890.

1885first post office
2on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Pender Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Pender Township began

When was Pender Township founded?

1885

The Pender Township post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 429 in 18902020 census: 1,297141 years
Founding year: the first Pender Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Pender 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Pender Township’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pender Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPender, NE - Oct. 1908: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Pender Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pender Township.

Read it all →

European-American settlers founded the village in April 1885, naming it in honor of the Scottish politician and businessman Sir John Pender, a pioneer of the Transatlantic Cable. He founded what is now Cable & Wireless Worldwide, and was a director of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Pender Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Pender, NE - Oct. 19081908Pender, NE - Oct. 1908
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today17 recent
Pender Track and Field sign2025Pender Track and Field signPender School B2025Pender School BPender School A2025Pender School ADowntown Pender View M2025Downtown Pender View MDowntown Pender View L2025Downtown Pender View LDowntown Pender View J2025Downtown Pender View JDowntown Pender View I2025Downtown Pender View IDowntown Pender View H2025Downtown Pender View HDowntown Pender View G2025Downtown Pender View GDowntown Pender View F2025Downtown Pender View FDowntown Pender View E2025Downtown Pender View EDowntown Pender View D2025Downtown Pender View DDowntown Pender View C2025Downtown Pender View CDowntown Pender View B2025Downtown Pender View BDowntown Pender View A2025Downtown Pender View ACrack in the side of the building2025Crack in the side of the buildingNEMap-doton-Pender2005NEMap-doton-Pender
On the map

Pender Township on the map, 1966 to 1986

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

Pender Township on the 1966 USGS mapPender Township on the 1986 USGS map1966Thurston 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 Pender Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Pender, NE - Oct. 1908
Retake this viewPender, NE - Oct. 1908, 1908

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Pender Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Pender Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts

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

People over time

Pender Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,318

Between 429 and 1,318 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pender Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Lampe Landing Fieldairport
1cemetery inside Pender Township
Rose Hill

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.

Flournoy TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townThayer TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCleveland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBryan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Pender Township’s history

What year was Pender Township founded?

The Pender Township post office opened in 1885, 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 →
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 Wikimedia Commons (18), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.