Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Prairie Island Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Prairie Island Township

46% of Prairie Island Township’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Riverside Park Dance Pavillion. Below: maps from 1896 on.

1on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Prairie Island 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 Prairie Island Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18963 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1985. Watch Prairie Island Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Prairie Island Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Prairie Island 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
On the map

Prairie Island Township on the map, 1896 to 1985

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

Prairie Island Township on the 1896 USGS mapPrairie Island Township on the 1962 USGS mapPrairie Island Township on the 1985 USGS map1896Stromsburg 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 Prairie Island Township.

The story so far

Prairie Island Township, in brief

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

Prairie Island Township is one of eleven townships in Merrick County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 82 at the 2020 census. A 2021 estimate placed the township's population at 83.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 85 to 72 (-15%).

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

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.
Add from your album
On the National Register

1 historic place in Prairie Island Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1998
Riverside Park Dance Pavillion
Riverside Park Dance Pavillion, built 1940
Buildings
Riverside Park Dance PavillionBuilt 1940

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Prairie Island Township

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

See all →
Evan WilliamsAmerican technology entrepreneur · b. 1972
J
J. P. GuilfordAmerican psychologist · b. 1897
John ArcherAmerican actor · b. 1915
W
Wright MorrisAmerican photographer and novelist · b. 1910
Stanley K. HathawayAmerican politician · b. 1924
A
Alex KavaAmerican writer · b. 1960
Places that used to be

Old corners

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Riverside Park

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.

Central TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLone Tree Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClarksville Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOverlandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Prairie Island Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Prairie Island Township?

One place: the Riverside Park Dance Pavillion (listed 1998).

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 (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.