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History · Bald Bluff Township

Bald Bluff Township’s post office opened in 1899, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 2000.

1899first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Bald Bluff Township began

When was Bald Bluff Township founded?

1899

The Bald Bluff Township post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Baldbluff (1899), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 288 in 20002020 census: 212127 years
Founding year: the first Bald Bluff Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bald Bluff 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 writtenNo old photos of Bald Bluff Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 334 in 2010; 212 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bald Bluff Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Bald Bluff Township, census by census

010020030020002020Peak: 334

Peaked at 334 in 2010; 212 people lived here in 2020.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

The story so far

Bald Bluff Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bald Bluff Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Bald Bluff Township is one of eleven townships in Henderson County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 212 and it contained 115 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1899. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 334 to 212 (-37%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Bald Bluff Township, 1899 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1899Post officeThe Baldbluff post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Baldbluff post office closes
  5. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 21st century
  7. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 334
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Bald Bluff Township on the map, 1935 to 1982

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

Bald Bluff Township on the 1935 USGS mapBald Bluff Township on the 1941 USGS mapBald Bluff Township on the 1982 USGS map1935Keithsburg 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 Bald Bluff Township.

Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Bald Bluff
Gone or out of use
Bald Bluff SchoolschoolBelmont SchoolschoolDouglas SchoolschoolHarmony SchoolschoolHeeg AirportairportMeyer AirportairportOld Number 1 SchoolschoolShissler Seed Company Incorporated AirportairportSunny Grove Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Bald Bluff Township
Belmont

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.

Abington TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOquawka Township1 historic placeB+Sumner TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKeithsburg Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRozetta TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOhio Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bald Bluff Township’s history

What year was Bald Bluff Township founded?

The Bald Bluff Township post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 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.