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History · Beardstown Township

Beardstown Township dates to 1819, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1858 on.

1819founded
1on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Beardstown Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Beardstown Township began

When was Beardstown Township founded?

1819

Beardstown Township dates its founding to 1819 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). Its post office opened in 1831.

2020 census: 6,719207 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1831.The full story ↓

What stands out about Beardstown Township’s past

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

Deep rootsEstablished in 1819: 207 years of Beardstown Township.Old housesHalf of Beardstown Township’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Timeline

Beardstown Township, 1819 to 1933

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1819
    FoundingBeardstown Township is established
  3. 1858In the archiveAbraham Lincoln by Byers, 1858 - crop r A1Xvo HD
  4. 20th century
  5. 1933In the archiveDETAIL OF ENTRANCE AND WINDOWS ON FIRST FLOOR - Commercial Buildings, Beardstown, Cass Co…
The story

How Beardstown Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Beardstown Township.

Read it all →

Beardstown was first settled by Thomas Beard in 1819; he erected a log cabin at the edge of the Illinois River, from which he traded with the local Native Americans and ran a ferry. The town was laid out in 1827 and was incorporated as a city in 1896. During the Black Hawk War in 1832, it was a base of supplies for the Illinois troops.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Beardstown Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s5 items
Abraham Lincoln by Byers, 1858 - crop r A1Xvo HD1858Abraham Lincoln by Byers, 1858 - crop r A1Xvo HDAbraham Lincoln by Byers, 1858 - crop1858Abraham Lincoln by Byers, 1858 - cropAbraham Lincoln by Byers, 18581858Abraham Lincoln by Byers, 1858Period tintype of Abraham Lincoln in a white suit1858Period tintype of Abraham Lincoln in a white suitAmbrotype of Abraham Lincoln in a white suit1858Ambrotype of Abraham Lincoln in a white suit
1930s1 item
DETAIL OF ENTRANCE AND WINDOWS ON FIRST FLOOR - Commercial Buildings, Beardstown, Cass County, IL1933DETAIL OF ENTRANCE AND WINDOWS ON FIRST FLOOR - Comme…
1940s–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
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.

Abraham Lincoln by Byers, 1858 - crop r A1Xvo HD
Retake this viewAbraham Lincoln by Byers, 1858 - crop r A1Xvo HD, 1858

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Beardstown 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.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Edgewood SchoolschoolSwan Lake Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Beardstown Township
Oetgen

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Beardstown Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAbraham Lincoln by Byers, 1858 - crop r…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Frederick TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBainbridge TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCooperstown Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHagener TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBluff Springs TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Beardstown Township’s history

What year was Beardstown Township founded?

In 1819, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Beardstown Township’s post office opened in 1831.

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 (6), 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.