The Ashmore Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Saint Omer (1852), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 403 in 18802020 census: 1,158171 years
How historic is Ashmore Township?
B+
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ashmore Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Ashmore Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ashmore Township is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ashmore Township’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ashmore Township’s 8.0 sits above most of its state (80% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Ashmore Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 883 in 1980; 637 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ashmore Township’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Ashmore Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ashmore Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Ashmore is a village in the Ashmore Township in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 637 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Charleston–Mattoon Micropolitan Statistical Area. Ashmore, Illinois is the only incorporated community in the United States called "Ashmore."
Its first post office opened in 1855. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,364 to 1,158 (-15%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Ashmore Township in 1879
Passages that mention Ashmore Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The History of Coles County, Illinois ... map of Coles County1879 · page 393Read the page →
Read the text
Grove, at that time considered the very outskirts of civilization. In 1838, he, with his father, Jonathan W. Brown, took a contract to build two sections of the Terre Haute & Alton Railroad, which they completed in 1840. and, the same year, he settled in Ashmore Township, on a farm he still owns, and upon which he resided until 1877, when he retired from active labor, and removed into the village of Ashmore, where he at present lives, enjoying a competency won by honest toil. Mr. Brown tells the following story of his "sparking" days: There was living in the neighborhood a family with a grown-up daughter of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The History of Coles County, Illinois ... map of Coles County1879Read the page →
Read the text
And ogled them over his sleeve." * The first school taught in Ashmore Township was by a man named Foster, before building the schoolhouse above named. Who first taught in the house mentioned, our informant had forgotten. The educational facilities have increased, however, since the days of these old-time schools, in proportion to the increase and improvement in everything else. The town is advantageously laid out in school districts, elegant and comfortable houses erected, competent teachers employed and the cause of education liberally supported.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
But the rogue only made believe ; For he peeped at the girls with the beautiful curls, And ogled them over his sleeve." * The first school taught in Ashmore Township was by a man named Foster, before building the schoolhouse above named. Who first taught in the house mentioned, our informant had forgotten. The educational facilities have increased, however, since the days of these old-time schools, in proportion to the increase and improvement in everything else. The town is advantageously
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Ashmore Township, 1852 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ashmore Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1936Oakland 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 Ashmore Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Ashmore Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Ashmore Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ashmore Township rank for history?
Ashmore Township is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Ashmore Township?
One place: the Airtight Bridge (listed 1981).
How old are the homes in Ashmore Township?
27% of Ashmore Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1971.
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).
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), 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.
