Founding year: the first Brimfield Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Brimfield Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brimfield Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brimfield Township’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Brimfield Township’s 10.1 sits above most of its state (83% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Brimfield Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Brimfield Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Brimfield (formerly Charleston) is a village in Peoria County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Brimfield had a population of 778. Brimfield is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Its first post office opened in 1843. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,235 to 1,208 (-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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brimfield Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1944Elmwood 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 Brimfield Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Brimfield 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
Brimfield Township, census by census
Between 565 and 933 people in every census since 1860.
16 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brimfield Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Brimfield Township
Nobody well known was born in Brimfield Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Brimfield Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Brimfield Township rank for history?
Brimfield Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Brimfield Township?
35% of Brimfield Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1960.
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).
From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
