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History · Western Township

28% of Western Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1950 on.

0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Western 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 Western Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Western Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Western 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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The story so far

Western Township, in brief

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

Western Township is one of thirty townships in Knox County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 51 at the 2020 census. A 2023 estimate placed the township's population at 50.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 63 to 45 (-29%).

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

Timeline

Western Township, 1874 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Pishelville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1927Post officeThe Pishelville post office closes
  5. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

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On the map

Western Township on the map in 1950

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Western Township.

Western Township on the 1950 USGS map1950Pishelville 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 Western Township.

Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Pishelville
Gone or out of use
Pishelville Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Western Township
Pischelville National

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.

Raymond Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWashington TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBohemia TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSteel Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Western 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.