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History · Arcola Township

Arcola Township dates to 1855, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1880.

1855founded
1on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Arcola Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Arcola Township began

When was Arcola Township founded?

1855

Arcola Township dates its founding to 1855 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 1,515 in 18802020 census: 3,257171 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓

What stands out about Arcola Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Arcola Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Arcola Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Arcola Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewRangers-2000-04: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Filson
1880–1974
Galton
1883–1955
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FilsonGalton
Gone or out of use
Allison SchoolschoolCofer SchoolschoolDickey SchoolschoolFilson Post Officepost officeFilson SchoolschoolGalton SchoolschoolMaple Grove SchoolschoolPulltight SchoolschoolScales SchoolschoolTown Line SchoolschoolUnion Central SchoolschoolWelch Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Arcola Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Arcola Township.

Read it all →

The city was named Arcola after the town of Arcole, Italy, where the Battle of Arcole took place.

Arcola was the birthplace in 1880 of John Barton Gruelle, or "Johnny" Gruelle, who created Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy, the loveable American dolls and storybook characters. He used artistic skills learned from his painter father, Richard Buckner Gruelle, combined with his self-taught writing skills to create stories expressing regional values and aesthetic images. His artistic granddaughter, Joni Gruelle Wannamaker, manages the Raggedy Ann Museum in Arcola.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Arcola Township, 1855 to 1974

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855
    FoundingArcola Township is established
  3. 1880Post officeThe Filson post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Galton post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1955Post officeThe Galton post office closes
  8. 1974Post officeThe Filson post office closes
By decade

Arcola Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Rangers-2000-04Date?Rangers-2000-04
Today12 recent
New and old-Juha Jousi2012New and old-Juha JousiArcola Township Cemetery in Illinois2011Arcola Township Cemetery in IllinoisArcola Township Cemetery, looking northwest, August 20092009Arcola Township Cemetery, looking northwest, August 2…Arcola Township Cemetery, looking northeast, August 20092009Arcola Township Cemetery, looking northeast, August 2…Hitching shed2008Hitching shedHippie memorial peace sign2008Hippie memorial peace signArcola IL2008Arcola ILArcola IL-edit2008Arcola IL-editArcola IL-edit (US 45 crop)2008Arcola IL-edit (US 45 crop)Arcola IL E Main St2008Arcola IL E Main StAmish Buggie sign2008Amish Buggie signAmish Buggie sign wide2008Amish Buggie sign wide
On the map

Arcola Township on the map, 1935 to 1998

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Arcola Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Arcola Township on the 1935 USGS mapArcola Township on the 1940 USGS mapArcola Township on the 1983 USGS mapArcola Township on the 1998 USGS map1935Arcola 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 Arcola Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Rangers-2000-04
Retake this viewRangers-2000-04

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Arcola Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Arcola Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Arcola Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,927

Between 1,515 and 2,927 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Arcola Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Tuscola Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBourbon TownshipIts storyC+Humboldt TownshipIts storyCBowdre TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Okaw TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Arcola Township’s history

What year was Arcola Township founded?

In 1855, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Arcola Township’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1880 counted 1,515 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 Wikimedia Commons (13), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.