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History · Bird Township

19% of Bird Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1931 on and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Bird 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 Bird Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bird Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bird Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bird 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

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

Buford
1862–1887
Comer
1887–1904
Enos
1895–1913
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ComerEnos
Gone or out of use
Bear Rough SchoolschoolBuford Post Officepost officeHarding Brothers RLA AirportairportLaurel Hill SchoolschoolMaple Grove SchoolschoolOak Grove SchoolschoolShiloh ChurchchurchWest Fairview SchoolschoolWest Woodlawn Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bird Township
Charity ChurchJoinerLumpkinSellShiloh

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

The story so far

Bird Township, in brief

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

Bird Township (T10N R8W) is located in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 308 and it contained 135 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 308 to 291 (-6%).

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

Timeline

Bird Township, 1862 to 1931

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1862Post officeThe Buford post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Buford post office closes
  4. 1887Post officeThe Comer post office opens
  5. 1895Post officeThe Enos post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1904Post officeThe Comer post office closes
  8. 1913Post officeThe Enos post office closes
  9. 1931On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Bird Township on the map, 1931 to 1979

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

Bird Township on the 1931 USGS mapBird Township on the 1979 USGS map1931Carlinville 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 Bird Township.

People over time

Bird Township, census by census

010020030020002020Peak: 308

Between 279 and 308 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Bird Township

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

See all →
Mary Hunter AustinMemoirist, novelist, poet, essayist, critic, pl… · b. 1868
Eulabee DixAmerican artist · b. 1878
Mark JuergensmeyerAmerican historian · b. 1940
Peter F. Mack, Jr.American politician · b. 1916
J
Joe McManusAmerican baseball player · b. 1887
B
Bill BurghardtAmerican sports coach, athletics administrator,… · b. 1912
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Carlinville Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWestern Mound Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPolk TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSouth Palmyra TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bird Township’s history

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 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.