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History · Northville Township

27% of Northville Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1900.

0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Northville 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 Northville Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 392 in 1910; 139 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Northville Township’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Northville Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Northville 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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People over time

Northville Township, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 392

Peaked at 392 in 1910; 139 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Northville Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Northville Township.

Read it all →

Northville was platted in 1881 when the railroad was extended to that point. The city was named from the fact it was then the most northern point on the railroad line. A post office has been in operation in Northville since 1881. United States Senator and founding Dean of the University of South Dakota School of Law Thomas Sterling was a resident of Northville from 1882 until 1886.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Northville Township, 1882 to 1910

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Mansfield post office opens
  3. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 392
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.
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On the map

Northville Township on the map, 1899 to 1985

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

Northville Township on the 1899 USGS mapNorthville Township on the 1985 USGS map1899Northville sheet · 1:125,000

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Northville Township

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

See all →
V
Virgil BoekelheideAmerican chemist · b. 1919
K
Kenneth F. BakerBotanist · b. 1908
T
Tom HansenAmerican former politician · b. 1939
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Wesley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMellette TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAthol TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Northville 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 Wikipedia, 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.