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History · West Burlington Township

West Burlington Township’s post office opened in 1833, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Methodist Episcopal Church of Burlington. Below: maps from 1939 on.

1833first post office
1on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

How West Burlington Township began

When was West Burlington Township founded?

1833

The West Burlington Township post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, West Burlington (1833) and Bourne (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 737193 years
Founding year: the first West Burlington Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about West Burlington Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start West Burlington Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Burlington Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Places that used to be

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

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

West Burlington
1833–1904
Bourne
1898–1904
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bourne MillsVroman HillWest Burlington
Gone or out of use
Vroman Hill Churchchurch
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside West Burlington Township
Old Methodist ChurchVroman Hill

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

West Burlington Township, 1833 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1833Post officeThe West Burlington post office opens
  3. 1898Post officeThe Bourne post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904Post officeThe West Burlington post office closes
  6. 1904Post officeThe Bourne post office closes
  7. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How West Burlington Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of West Burlington Township.

Read it all →

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Burlington was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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
On the map

West Burlington Township on the map, 1939 to 1969

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

West Burlington Township on the 1939 USGS mapWest Burlington Township on the 1942 USGS mapWest Burlington Township on the 1957 USGS mapWest Burlington Township on the 1969 USGS map1939Sayre 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 West Burlington Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in West Burlington Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Methodist Episcopal Church of Burlington
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

19th Century Revival1
Greek Revival1

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to West Burlington Township

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

See all →
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Questions about West Burlington Township’s history

What year was West Burlington Township founded?

The West Burlington Township post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in West Burlington Township?

One place: the Methodist Episcopal Church of Burlington (listed 1990).

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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.