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History · Augusta Township

Augusta Township dates to 1832, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1946 on, and the census since 1880.

1832founded
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Augusta Township began

When was Augusta Township founded?

1832

Augusta Township dates its founding to 1832 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 1,015 in 18802020 census: 723194 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1834.The full story ↓

What stands out about Augusta 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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1832: 194 years of Augusta Township.Old housesHalf of Augusta Township’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Augusta Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 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 viewAugusta quadrangle, Illinois: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Augusta Township, 1832 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1832
    FoundingAugusta Township is established
  3. 1839Post officeThe Pulaski post office opens
  4. 1872Post officeThe Pulaski post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1949In the archiveAugusta quadrangle, Illinois
The story

How Augusta Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Augusta Township.

Read it all →

Augusta was founded in 1832 by Joel Catlin and W.D. Abernathy, who was the village's first postmaster. Catlin named Augusta after having a memorable visit to Augusta, Georgia.

On September 18, 1858, soon-to-be President Abraham Lincoln visited Augusta, where he gave a speech and stayed at the home of Elder James Stark. Previously, Lincoln's opponent in the historic Lincoln–Douglas debates, Stephen A. Douglas, had spoken in Augusta. In 1864, Congressman James Garfield (the future president) spoke in Augusta on behalf of Lincoln. Other notable visitors include William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt in the fall of 1900. Only Roosevelt gave a short speech on his trip through Augusta during the campaign.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Augusta Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Augusta quadrangle, Illinois1949Augusta quadrangle, Illinois
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Augusta 1949 1-62,500 - PCL Map Collection - txu-pclmaps-topo-il-augusta-1949Date?Augusta 1949 1-62,500 - PCL Map Collection - txu-pclm…Map
On the map

Augusta Township on the map, 1946 to 1981

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

Augusta Township on the 1946 USGS mapAugusta Township on the 1975 USGS mapAugusta Township on the 1981 USGS map1946Augusta 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 Augusta 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.

Augusta quadrangle, Illinois
Retake this viewAugusta quadrangle, Illinois, 1949

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Augusta Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,149

Between 553 and 1,149 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Pulaski, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Pulaski
Gone or out of use
Hartford SchoolschoolLiberty SchoolschoolPit 7 Triple S MinemineSherwood SchoolschoolThree Counties MinemineWashington SchoolschoolWest Union Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Augusta Township
PulaskiTrimbleWoodlawn

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Birmingham TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChili TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSt. Mary TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNortheast Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Augusta Township’s history

What year was Augusta Township founded?

In 1832, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Augusta Township’s post office opened in 1834, and the census of 1880 counted 1,015 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 (2), 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.