WikiMini

Union Township, Holt County, Missouri

Union Township
Township
Coordinates: 40°11′03″N 95°22′46″W / 40.1841657°N 95.3795735°W / 40.1841657; -95.3795735
CountryUnited States
StateMissouri
CountyHolt
Area
[1]
 • Total
52.42 sq mi (135.8 km2)
 • Land51.88 sq mi (134.4 km2)
 • Water0.54 sq mi (1.4 km2)  1.03%
Elevation
[2]
866 ft (264 m)
Population
 (2020)[3]
 • Total
224
 • Density4.3/sq mi (1.7/km2)
FIPS code29-08774680[1]
GNIS feature ID766772[2]

Union Township is a township in Holt County, Missouri, United States.[2] At the 2020 census, its population was 224.[3] It is the largest township in Holt County, being over 50 square miles. Craig, its only extant community, is located in the township's center.[4]

History

[edit]

Union Township was settled in the early 1840s, at Sharpe's Grove,[5] but its establishment date is unknown.[6]

Marietta was first settled circa 1844[5] and was established March 15, 1854,[7] was a community on the east bank of the Missouri River,[8] southwest of where Craig is today, near Lewsiville.[9] A post office named Rushbottom existed from 1850 to 1871.[10][11][12] Rush Bottoms Conservation Area is where the settlement used to be.[13] A schoolhouse named Marietta persisted until at least 1920.[14]

A hamlet called Tarkio, also known as Tarkeo[8][10] or Big Spring, was located in the northern portion of Union township, about 1.75 miles northwest of Craig, along the Big Tarkio Creek.[9][12] There was a post office named Tarkio from 1843 to 1869.[15]

The Kansas City, St. Joseph, and Council Bluffs Railroad was completed through this township in 1869.

Geography

[edit]

Union Township is the largest township in area in Holt County and the only one to touch its northern and western boundary. Two-thirds of its area is the Missouri River bottomlands, and the rest is the Loess Bluffs.[16]

Two of Holt County's largest streams flow north-south through the township, the Tarkio River and Little Tarkio Creek. Also, a couple named landforms are present in the northern bluffs of the township, Pigeon Ridge and Mill Hollow.[16]

There is a surprising density of highways for this rural township, including I-29, US 59, and Route 111, all of which cover the township quite evenly.[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "MO TIGER County Subdivisions". Missouri Spatial Data Infomration Service. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Union Township, Holt County, Missouri
  3. ^ a b "Census 2020 DHC Extract Assistance". Missouri Census Data Center. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Missouri Department of Transportation (2021). Official Highway Map (Map) (2021–2022 ed.). Jefferson City: Missouri Department of Transportation.
  5. ^ a b "An illustrated historical atlas map of Holt County, Mo, 1877". Brink, McDonough & Company. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
  6. ^ "History of Holt County, Missouri". St. Joseph, Mo., Midland Printing Co., 1917. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
  7. ^ "Holt County, Missouri Political Entities". Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Place Names. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
  8. ^ a b Lloyd, James T. "Lloyd's official map of Missouri". Library of Congress. New York, Louisville, [and] London, J. T. Lloyd, 1861. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Derr, Eileen (1981). Gone home: Directory of the deceased and items of history of Holt County, Missouri, 1837-1981. Holt County Missouri Historical Society.
  10. ^ a b Gamble, William H. "County map of the states of Iowa and Missouri, 1860". Iowa Digital Library. S. Augustus Mitchell 1860. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
  11. ^ "Post Offices". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
  12. ^ a b "Clark's New Sectional Map of Missouri". J. C. Clarke & Company. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  13. ^ https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/rush-bottoms-conservation-area
  14. ^ "TopoView". USGS. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  15. ^ "Post Offices". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
  16. ^ a b "Craig, MO - 1920". TopoView. USGS. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
[edit]

Lloyd's Official Map of Missouri, the only known map which shows Marietta