Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Firesteel Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Firesteel Township

Firesteel Township’s post office opened in 1882

Most of Firesteel Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1986 on.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Firesteel Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Firesteel Township began

When was Firesteel Township founded?

1882

The Firesteel Township post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Firesteel (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 44144 years
Founding year: the first Firesteel Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Firesteel 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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Firesteel Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Firesteel 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 viewMining lignite: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Firesteel Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Firesteel Township.

Read it all →

Firesteel was founded in May 1910 as the Firesteel Station. Settlers began traveling to the area after rumors of a new township founded over one section began to spread. However, no such township was actually reserved. A post office was founded in February 1911. Businesses began to spring up. The first lots went for sale on September 4, 1912, with the highest lot selling for $250.

ChaptersFounding and settlementMining and boom yearsDecline and today

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Firesteel Township, 1882 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Firesteel post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Firesteel post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1914In the archiveMining lignite
  6. 1986On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Firesteel Township, decade by decade

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

1910s1 item
Mining lignite1914Mining lignite
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

Firesteel Township on the map in 1986

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

Firesteel Township on the 1986 USGS map1986Mitchell sheet · 1:100,000

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

Mining lignite
Retake this viewMining lignite, 1914

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

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

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.

Bristol TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPlankinton Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCooper TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPalatine TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Firesteel Township’s history

What year was Firesteel Township founded?

The Firesteel Township post office opened in 1882, 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 the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.