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History · Plainfield Township

Plainfield Township’s post office opened in 1883

Below: maps from 1979 on.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Plainfield Township began

When was Plainfield Township founded?

1883

The Plainfield Township post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Plainfield (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 38143 years
Founding year: the first Plainfield Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Plainfield 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 Plainfield Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Plainfield Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Plainfield Township, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 34 to 38 (+12%).

Timeline

Plainfield Township, 1883 to 1979

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Plainfield post office opens
  3. 1890Post officeThe Plainfield post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1979On 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.
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On the map

Plainfield Township on the map, 1979 to 1986

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

Plainfield Township on the 1979 USGS mapPlainfield Township on the 1986 USGS map1979Platte Lake 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 Plainfield Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

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

Gone or out of use
Plainfieldlocale

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.

Kimball TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWhite Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWilbur TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWillow Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Plainfield Township’s history

What year was Plainfield Township founded?

The Plainfield Township post office opened in 1883, 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, 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.