Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Beach
1883–1883
Woody
1883–1906
Columbiana
1896–1897
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BoyleColumbianaHurricaneWoody
Gone or out of use
Christian Grove SchoolschoolColumbiana SchoolschoolHerschberger Landing StripairportKeach SchoolschoolPacific Union SchoolschoolRichwoods SchoolschoolRobley SchoolschoolThe Adwell Corporation Airportairport
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bluffdale Township
Eldred BushnellEldred Memorial GardensMulberryRichwoods West
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Bluffdale Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bluffdale Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Bluffdale Township is one of thirteen townships in Greene County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 454 and it contained 241 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 556 to 454 (-18%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Bluffdale Township, 1883 to 1930
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bluffdale Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1930Pearl 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 Bluffdale Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Bluffdale Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.