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History · Ward Township

100% of Ward Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1967 on and the census since 1910.

0on the National Register
100%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Ward 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 Ward Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 118 in 1920; 34 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ward Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ward 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

Ward Township, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020Peak: 118

Peaked at 118 in 1920; 34 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Ward Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ward Township.

Read it all →

Ward was named after James A. Ward, a railroad promoter and auditor of Dakota Territory from 1887 to 1889.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ward Township, 1882 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Groveland post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Groveland post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 118
  6. 1967On 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

Ward Township on the map, 1967 to 1985

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

Ward Township on the 1967 USGS mapWard Township on the 1985 USGS map1967Elkton 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 Ward Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Ward Township

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

See all →
H
Harold Rawdon BriggsBritish Army general · b. 1894
Phil BrunsAmerican actor, writer · b. 1931
Vern EhlersAmerican politician · b. 1934
L
Lambert Anthony HochCatholic bishop · b. 1903
Bill HagerFlorida State Representative · b. 1947
Donald PetersenAmerican businessman · b. 1926
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Grovelandlocale
1cemetery inside Ward Township
Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran

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.

Spring Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townElkton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Ward 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 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.