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–Not graded
History · Bear Creek Township

37% of Bear Creek Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1933 on and the census since 1860.

0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: User:Visviva · CC BY-SA 4.0

What stands out about Bear Creek 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 Bear Creek Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Bear Creek Township’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bear Creek Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bear Creek 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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The story

How Bear Creek Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bear Creek Township.

Read it all →

Bear Creek Township was one of the original 19 townships of Hancock County, drawn to correspond to Town 4 North Range 7 West of the fourth principal meridian. It took its name from its principal stream, Bear Creek.

In the 1860s and 1870s, the grapes grown in Bear Creek at the vineyard of Gabriel Morlot were well known in the state. They won first place at the 17th Annual Illinois State Fair in 1869 in the categories of "Best Two Bottles of Catawba, Product of this State", "Best Two Bottles of Clinton, Product of this State", and "Best Two Bottles of Concord, Product of this State", earning three silver medals.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Bear Creek Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Basco Community Building 2026-08-302026Basco Community Building 2026-08-30
On the map

Bear Creek Township on the map, 1933 to 1974

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

Bear Creek Township on the 1933 USGS mapBear Creek Township on the 1974 USGS map1933Carthage 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 Bear Creek Township.

People over time

Bear Creek Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200190019502000Peak: 1,188

Between 340 and 1,188 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Bear Creek Township

Nobody well known was born in Bear Creek Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Virginia CherrillAmerican actress · b. 1908
Conrad NagelAmerican actor · b. 1897
Elsa MaxwellAmerican gossip columnist, author, songwriter, … · b. 1883
Richard PageAmerican musician · b. 1953
A
Alden W. ClausenAmerican businessman, President of the World Ba… · b. 1923
Frank SteunenbergAmerican politician · b. 1861
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Apple Grove SchoolschoolBrush SchoolschoolGerman SchoolschoolHayes SchoolschoolTemperance SchoolschoolUnion Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bear Creek Township
BethelGrahamSouthWest

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.

Wythe TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPrairie TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSt. Albans TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHarmony TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bear Creek Township’s history

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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.