Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Big Spring Township was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1947 on.
The Big Spring Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Big Spring (1850), Kingman (1886) and Trowbridge (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Big Spring Township’s history is told.
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Big Spring Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Big Spring Township is located in Shelby County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 698 and it contained 326 housing units.
Its first post office opened in 1850. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 698 to 577 (-17%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Big Spring Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Big Spring Township.
Nobody well known was born in Big Spring Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Big Spring Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, 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.
