Ada Township was first settled in the early 1880s. Originally part of Weston Township, which at the time covered two survey townships in Townships 129 and 130N, Range 61W.[6]
Ada was organized around 1900 from the southern of the two townships and the northern one was renamed Kent Township.[5][7]
The village of Silverleaf, built in 1887, is located 7 miles east of Ellendale, and was once the major population center in the township.[7] The town reported around 25 residents in the late 1910s,[8] and never seemed to exceed more than 50. It is little more than a ghost town today.[9]
The village served a flag station for the Great Northern Railroad. Two conflicting stories exist over the origin of the name. Some say it is for the silverberry bushes found in the area,[9] but others attribute the naming to a joke played by an early settler, Dan Keenan. Keenan reportedly removed the label from a tin of "Silverleaf" lard and nailed it to a boxcar parked at the station.[10]
