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–Not graded
History · South Branch Township

91% of South Branch Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1899 on.

0on the National Register
91%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about South Branch 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 South Branch 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 1985. Watch South Branch Township change.Old housesHalf of South Branch Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start South Branch Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how South Branch 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

South Branch Township on the map, 1899 to 1985

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

South Branch Township on the 1899 USGS mapSouth Branch Township on the 1954 USGS mapSouth Branch Township on the 1985 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 South Branch Township.

The story so far

South Branch Township, in brief

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

South Branch Township is one of twelve townships in Nance County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 34 at the 2020 census. A 2021 estimate placed the township's population at 34.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 39 to 53 (+36%).

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

Timeline

South Branch Township, 1884 to 1904

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Olive post office opens
  3. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904Post officeThe Olive post office closes
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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Famous people

Famous people close to South Branch Township

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

See all →
Grover Cleveland AlexanderAmerican baseball player · b. 1887
Tompall GlaserAmerican country singer · b. 1933
Norma PaulusAmerican politician · b. 1933
Jon Lynn ChristensenAmerican politician · b. 1963
Francis P. Matthews8th Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus · b. 1887
Ted MapesAmerican actor · b. 1901
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Timber Creek
Gone or out of use
Clay Ridge SchoolschoolMeadowlark Hill SchoolschoolOlive SchoolschoolRidgewood SchoolschoolSchool Number 44school

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.

Timber Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about South Branch Township’s history

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.