Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Bement Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Bement Township

Bement Township’s post office opened in 1856, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1880.

1856first post office
1on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
13old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bement Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bement Township began

When was Bement Township founded?

1856

The Bement Township post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Piatt (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 963 in 18802020 census: 1,657170 years
Founding year: the first Bement Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bement Township’s past

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

A town in old photos13 old photos, postcards and papers, 1933–1966.Mystery photos6 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.Old housesHalf of Bement Township’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · By decade

Bement Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s6 items
HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilson Street1933HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116…HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilson Street1933HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116…HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilson Street1933HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Bryant House, 116…HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilson Street1933HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Bryant House, 116…HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilson Street1933HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Bryant House, 116…HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilson Street1933HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Bryant House, 116…
1960s1 item
N&W E8A 3815 with Train 121, the domeliner Blue Bird, at speed north of Bement, Illinois at sunset on May 1, 19661966N&W E8A 3815 with Train 121, the domeliner Blue Bird,…
1970s–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 unknown6 to date
HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY E.E. LUNDEEN, PHOTOGRAPHER JULY 10,1935. LINCOLN - DOUGLAS ROAD MARKER - VIEW FROM W…Date?HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY E.E. LUNDEEN, PHOT…HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY E.E. LUNDEEN, PHOTOGRAPHER JULY 10,1935. VIEW FROM NORTHEAST - Bryant House, 116 Wil…Date?HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY E.E. LUNDEEN, PHOT…HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY PRINT BY HAWKIN'S STUDIO - PHOTOGRAPHERS - PHOTO TAKEN ABOUT JULY 1925. VIEW FROM SO…Date?HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY PRINT BY HAWKIN'S …HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY PRINT BY HAWKIN'S STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHERS. PHOTO TAKEN ABOUT JULY 1925. LINCOLN - DOUGL…Date?HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY PRINT BY HAWKIN'S …Lincoln-Douglas Road MarkerDate?Lincoln-Douglas Road MarkerBryant House, 146 Wilson StreetDate?Bryant House, 146 Wilson Street
Today5 recent
Bement, Illinois post office2023Bement, Illinois post officeBement, Illinois municipal center 012023Bement, Illinois municipal center 01Bement First Presbyterian Church2014Bement First Presbyterian ChurchBement Illinois Post Office2007Bement Illinois Post OfficeBement Illinois High School2007Bement Illinois High School
Help out

Finish Bement 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
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo6 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bry…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Bement Township, in brief

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

Bement is a village in Piatt County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 1,484 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,893 to 1,657 (-12%).

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

Timeline

Bement Township, 1858 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Piatt post office opens
  3. 1860Post officeThe Piatt post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1933In the archiveHABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilson Street
  6. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1966In the archiveN&W E8A 3815 with Train 121, the domeliner Blue Bird, at speed north of Bement, Illinois …
On the map

Bement Township on the map, 1955 to 1998

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

Bement Township on the 1955 USGS mapBement Township on the 1975 USGS mapBement Township on the 1983 USGS mapBement Township on the 1998 USGS map1955Bement 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 Bement 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.

HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilson Street
Retake this viewHABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilson Street, 1933

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Bement 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.

People over time

Bement Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,784

Between 963 and 1,784 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
BodmannPiatt
Gone or out of use
Bartram Landing StripairportKirwan Landing Stripairport
1cemetery inside Bement Township
Bement

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.

Monticello Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnity Township1 historic placeA−Cerro Gordo TownshipIts storyB+Sadorus TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWillow Branch Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bement Township’s history

What year was Bement Township founded?

The Bement Township post office opened in 1856, 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 Wikimedia Commons (16), the Library of Congress (2), 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.