Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Silver Creek Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1896Stromsburg 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 Silver Creek Township.
People over time
Silver Creek Township, census by census
Peaked at 625 in 1990; 320 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Silver Creek Township’s Wikipedia page.
The story
How Silver Creek Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Silver Creek Township.
Silver Creek was platted in 1866 when the Union Pacific Railroad was extended to that point. It was named from the Silver Creek nearby, which was noted for the clarity of its waters.
In 1866, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Silver Creek Township’s post office opened in 1877, and the census of 1900 counted 291 people here.
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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.