Woodbury built a log cabin along the Cedar River in section 33 (about two and a half miles west of the modern-day town of Lyle) in 1853 which he then sold to Benjamin Coe in 1855 before moving to Olmsted County.

Section 4 started to be settled in 1854 by Eben Merry as well as by James Foster and his son, Return.

The township was officially organized in 1858 and it was later named for Robert Lyle, an early settler from Ohio.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 35.5 square miles (91.9 km2), all land.

The old town of Troy was on the Cedar River in sections 4 and 8, about eight miles (13 km) south of Austin.

It was settled on March 24, 1857 by John Tift and it once had a dam, sawmill, grist mill and a hotel.

The dam and mills were never rebuilt, but some of the old residents of the short-lived settlement lie in rest at nearby Cedar City Cemetery.