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History · Spencer Township

Spencer Township’s post office opened in 1891, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1900.

1891first post office
0on the National Register
47%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Spencer Township began

When was Spencer Township founded?

1891

The Spencer Township post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Baker (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 135 in 19002020 census: 553135 years
Founding year: the first Spencer Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Spencer 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.Boom and bustPeaked at 728 in 1920; 408 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Spencer Township’s homes were built before 1950.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spencer Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Spencer 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 viewMoon Theatre, Spencer, Nebraska - Jun 1…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Spencer Township, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 728

Peaked at 728 in 1920; 408 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Spencer Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Spencer Township.

Read it all →

Spencer was platted in 1891. Sources vary whether it is named for an army captain, or for George E. Spencer, a U.S. senator from Alabama.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Spencer Township, 1891 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Baker post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Baker post office closes
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 728
  6. 1922In the archiveMoon Theatre, Spencer, Nebraska - Jun 1922 EH
  7. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Spencer Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Moon Theatre, Spencer, Nebraska - Jun 1922 EH1922Moon Theatre, Spencer, Nebraska - Jun 1922 EH
1930s–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
Spencer, Nebraska from SE2010Spencer, Nebraska from SESpencer, Nebraska Thayer from Evans 32010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer from Evans 3Spencer, Nebraska Thayer from Evans 22010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer from Evans 2Spencer, Nebraska Thayer from Evans 12010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer from Evans 1Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 122010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 12Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 112010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 11Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 102010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 10Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 092010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 09Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 082010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 08Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 072010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 07Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 062010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 06Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 052010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 05Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 042010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 04Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 032010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 03Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 022010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 02Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 012010Spencer, Nebraska Thayer Street 01NEMap-doton-Spencer2005NEMap-doton-Spencer
On the map

Spencer Township on the map, 1964 to 1986

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

Spencer Township on the 1964 USGS mapSpencer Township on the 1986 USGS map1964Spencer North 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 Spencer 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.

Moon Theatre, Spencer, Nebraska - Jun 1922 EH
Retake this viewMoon Theatre, Spencer, Nebraska - Jun 1922 EH, 1922

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Baker
Gone or out of use
Baker Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Spencer Township
BohemianImmanuelUnion

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.

Butte Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townColeman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBristow TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMorton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Spencer Township’s history

What year was Spencer Township founded?

The Spencer Township post office opened in 1891, 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), 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.