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History · Center Township

54% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1979 on.

0on the National Register
54%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Center 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.Old housesHalf of Center Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Center Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Center 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 viewSwedish Lutheran Church: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Center Township, in brief

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

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 85 to 100 (+18%).

Timeline

Center Township, 1884 to 1979

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Gilbert post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Gilbert post office closes
  5. 1913In the archiveSwedish Lutheran Church
  6. 1979On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Center Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Swedish Lutheran Church1913Swedish Lutheran Church
1920s–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
On the map

Center Township on the map, 1979 to 1986

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

Center Township on the 1979 USGS mapCenter Township on the 1986 USGS map1979Aurora Center 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 Center 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.

Swedish Lutheran Church
Retake this viewSwedish Lutheran Church, 1913

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Center 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, Gilbert, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Aurora Center
Gone or out of use
Friends ChurchlocaleGilbertlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Center Township
Aurora CenterQuaker

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.

Washington TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTruro TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCrystal Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Center Township’s history

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 the Library of Congress (1), 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.