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History · Plain Grove Township

Plain Grove Township’s post office opened in 1850, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 2000.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Plain Grove Township began

When was Plain Grove Township founded?

1850

The Plain Grove Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Plain Grove (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 854 in 20002020 census: 777176 years
Founding year: the first Plain Grove Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Plain Grove 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 Plain Grove Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19136 editions of the USGS map, 1913 to 1990. Watch Plain Grove Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Plain Grove Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Plain Grove 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

Plain Grove Township on the map, 1913 to 1990

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

Plain Grove Township on the 1913 USGS mapPlain Grove Township on the 1939 USGS mapPlain Grove Township on the 1943 USGS mapPlain Grove Township on the 1961 USGS mapPlain Grove Township on the 1970 USGS mapPlain Grove Township on the 1990 USGS map1913Mercer sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Plain Grove Township.

The story so far

Plain Grove Township, in brief

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

Plain Grove Township is a township in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 777 at the time of the 2020 census, a decline from the figure of 813 tabulated in 2010.

Its first post office opened in 1850. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 813 to 777 (-4%).

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

Timeline

Plain Grove Township, 1850 to 1913

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Plain Grove post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Post officeThe Plain Grove post office closes
  5. 1913On 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
People over time

Plain Grove Township, census by census

020040060080020002020Peak: 854

Between 777 and 854 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Plain Grove Township

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

See all →
R
Rob SchmidtAmerican film director · b. 1965
Smokin' Joe KubekAmerican electric blues guitarist · b. 1956
J
Jimmy Del RayAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1962
Paula KellyAmerican big band singer · b. 1919
Gary PetersAmerican baseball player · b. 1937
Robert M. NemkovichSupreme Bishop of the Polish National Catholic … · b. 1942
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
BrentPlain Grove
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Plain Grove Township
Mount Pleasant Methodist ChurchPlain Grove United Presbyterian ChurchSouth Plain Grove

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.

Liberty TownshipIts storyC−Scott TownshipIts storyC+Washington TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Plain Grove Township’s history

What year was Plain Grove Township founded?

The Plain Grove Township post office opened in 1850, 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 →
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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, 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.