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History · Beaucoup Township

Beaucoup Township’s post office opened in 1815, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1932 on.

1815first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Beaucoup Township began

When was Beaucoup Township founded?

1815

The Beaucoup Township post office opened in 1815, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Beaucoup (1815) and Pleasant Grove (1840), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 581211 years
Founding year: the first Beaucoup Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Beaucoup 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 Beaucoup Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Beaucoup Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1815: 211 years of Beaucoup Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Beaucoup Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Beaucoup
1815–1953
Pleasant Grove
1840–1842
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beaucoup
Gone or out of use
Beaucoup Oil FieldoilfieldBeaucoup Oil FieldoilfieldBecks Farm Landing StripairportBethel SchoolschoolNuptial SchoolschoolPleasant Grove SchoolschoolPrairie Hill Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Beaucoup Township
BeaucoupBethelKennedyPleasant GroveWashington County Farm

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

Timeline

Beaucoup Township, 1815 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1815Post officeThe Beaucoup post office opens
  3. 1840Post officeThe Pleasant Grove post office opens
  4. 1842Post officeThe Pleasant Grove post office closes
  5. 1872Born hereGeorge E. Coghill is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1953Post officeThe Beaucoup post office closes
The story so far

Beaucoup Township, in brief

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

Beaucoup is an unincorporated community in Beaucoup Township, Washington County, Illinois, United States. Beaucoup is located along the Evansville Western Railway near Illinois Route 15, 4.8 miles (7.7 km) east of Nashville. On October 12, 1948, Thomas E. Dewey gave a speech to a crowd of 1,000 during his presidential campaign.

Its first post office opened in 1815. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 593 to 581 (-2%).

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

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

Beaucoup Township on the map, 1932 to 1974

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

Beaucoup Township on the 1932 USGS mapBeaucoup Township on the 1974 USGS map1932Nashville 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 Beaucoup Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hoyleton TownshipIts storyB−Nashville Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBolo TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAshley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townIrvington TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Beaucoup Township’s history

What year was Beaucoup Township founded?

The Beaucoup Township post office opened in 1815, 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 →
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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.