The first Europeans to settle the area that would eventually become Amity Township were Thomas N. Reynolds, Samuel K. Reynolds, and E. Breckinridge, arriving together in 1833. The area was attractive to early settlers for its abundance of timber, stone, and water. They built small cabins for their families and lived in them for several years on what was known by 1878 as the J.P. Houston farm.
The township may be named after Amity, Ohio. This is very likely as the earliest settlers in the township were from Ohio. It was mentioned in the same 1878 history that Amity means friendship.
The township was officially organized on April 6, 1858, and was one of the first 20 townships in Livingston County organized in 1858.
Passages that mention Amity Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The History of Livingston County, Illinois1878 · page 296Read the page →
Read the text
No doubt Cornelius W. Reynolds was the first physician who was an actual resident of the village. He had settled in Amity Township, in 1836, but in 1837, came to Pontiac, where he resided about four years'. He was for a time Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court, and was the first Postmaster. A dozen years later, it is related that the post office at Pontiac was kept in a man's hat. In Postmaster Reynolds' time, it must have been a very small
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Amity Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Flanagan sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Amity Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Amity Township
Nobody well known was born in Amity Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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, the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
