Dale Township is a township in Atchison County, Missouri, United States.[2] At the 2020 census, its population was 187.[3]
Dale Township | |
|---|---|
 St. Oswald's Episcopal Church in southern Dale Township. | |
 | |
| Coordinates: 40°19′43″N 95°15′53″W / 40.3286346°N 95.2648393°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Missouri |
| County | Atchison |
| Area | |
• Total | 81.61 sq mi (211.4 km2) |
| • Land | 81.6 sq mi (211 km2) |
| • Water | 0.01 sq mi (0.026 km2) 0.01% |
| Elevation | 1,020 ft (310 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 187 |
| • Density | 2.3/sq mi (0.89/km2) |
| FIPS code | 29-00518028[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 766235[2] |
Etymology
editHistory
editDale Township was established on November 25, 1871, after the county court ordered the division of Clark Township with the West Fork of the Little Tarkio Creek to be the boundary. The eastern portion was called Walkup Precinct, which is the present Dale Township, and the western portion, called Beck Township, remained as the limits of Clark Township.[5]
Geography
editDale Township covers an area of exactly nine sections square,[5] or 81.61 square miles (211.4 km2), making it the second largest township in the county, It contains no incorporated settlements but two extinct hamlets, Dotham[6] and Osawld,[7] were located in the township.
The streams of Hickory Branch and Long Branch run through this township.
Settlements
editElk Dale is an extinct hamlet in Dale Township. The GNIS classifies it as a populated place, but the precise location of the town site is unknown.[8] A post office called Elk Dale was in operation from 1875 until 1900.[9] A schoolhouse called Elk Dale was located in the southwest of this township, in the southern part of Section 8 of Township 63 North Range 39 West.[10] Elk Dale was named for the elk living in the area when it was settled.[11]
Groves
editWalkup's Grove, one of the townships' first settlements, was located on 320 acres (130 ha) of land on the East Tarkio. It was named after James Walkup, who was previously in Holt County. This settlement was the namesake for the short-lived Walkup Precinct.[5] It was located around the mouth of Hickory Creek a mile southwest of Dotham.[6] There was a church named Walkup Grove Baptist Church that was erected in 1881. The church was active until around 1951. The church was bulldozed in 1995. A cemetery called Walkup Grove, the only one in the township,[12] still remains.[13]
Two miles southwest lay Waugh's Grove which was settled by 1865 by a Scot[5] and was the site of a stock farm. The founder, Robert Waugh, sold his possessions and returned to Scotland in 1881.[14]
Another settlement was Hickory Grove.[5]
Transportation
edit
References
edit- 1 2 "MO TIGER County Subdivisions". Missouri Spatial Data Information Service. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
- 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Dale Township, Atchison County, Missouri
- 1 2 "Census 2020 DHC Extract Assistance". Missouri Census Data Center. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
- ↑ "Atchison County Place Names, 1928-1945 (archived)". The State Historical Society of Missouri. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - 1 2 3 4 5 Moser, Arthur Paul (1980). "Moser's Directory of Atchison County, Missouri". Springfield-Greene County Library District. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
- 1 2 "Plat book of Atchison County, Missouri 1904". Minneapolis, Minn. : Northwest Publishing Company. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
- ↑ "Atchison County, Missouri 1904 Map". Retrieved August 14, 2025.
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Dale Township, Atchison County, Missouri
- ↑ "Post Offices". Jim Forte Postal History. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
- ↑ "Tarkio, MO - 1939". TopoView. USGS. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
- ↑ "Atchison County Place Names, 1928-1945 (archived)". The State Historical Society of Missouri. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ Gone But Not Forgotten: Directory of the Deceased, Atchison County, Missouri. Atchison County Historical Society, 1991. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
- ↑ Patricia Combs O'Dell. "Walkup Grove Church and Cemetery". Atchison County, Missouri. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
- ↑ History of Holt and Atchison counties, Missouri. St. Joseph, National Historical Co. 1882.
- ↑ "County Maps". Missouri Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 8, 2026.