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History · Brooklyn Township

Brooklyn Township’s post office opened in 1840, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1923 on.

1840first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Brooklyn Township began

When was Brooklyn Township founded?

1840

The Brooklyn Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Brooklyn (1840), Brooklyn (1849) and Wayland (1853), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 142186 years
Founding year: the first Brooklyn Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Brooklyn 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 Brooklyn Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Brooklyn Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1840: 186 years of Brooklyn Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brooklyn Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brooklyn 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.

Brooklyn
1840–1845
Brooklyn
1849–1962
Wayland
1853–1905
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BrooklynWayland
Gone or out of use
Brooklyn Post Officepost officeGuinea SchoolschoolLower Center SchoolschoolMuley SchoolschoolUpper Center SchoolschoolWhiteoak Schoolschool
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Brooklyn Township
BlackburnBrooklynCoxPratherStonekingWhite Oak

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

Timeline

Brooklyn Township, 1840 to 1962

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840Post officeThe Brooklyn post office opens
  3. 1845Post officeThe Brooklyn post office closes
  4. 1849Post officeThe Brooklyn post office opens
  5. 1853Post officeThe Wayland post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1905Post officeThe Wayland post office closes
  8. 1923On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1962Post officeThe Brooklyn post office closes
The story so far

Brooklyn Township, in brief

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

Brooklyn Township is located in Schuyler County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 216 and it contained 107 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 216 to 142 (-34%).

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

By decade

Brooklyn Township, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Brooklyn limit sign 2026-08-152026Brooklyn limit sign 2026-08-15Brooklyn Township building 2026-08-152026Brooklyn Township building 2026-08-15
On the map

Brooklyn Township on the map, 1923 to 1981

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

Brooklyn Township on the 1923 USGS mapBrooklyn Township on the 1981 USGS map1923Rushville 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 Brooklyn Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Brooklyn Township

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

See all →
Wesley Clair MitchellAmerican statistician · b. 1874
Adelaide JohnsonAmerican sculptor · b. 1859
Francis M. DrakeAmerican soldier, businessman and politician · b. 1830
E. W. ScrippsAmerican newspaper publisher · b. 1854
Edmond H. MadisonAmerican politician · b. 1865
H
Helen West HellerAmerican painter, sculptor · b. 1872
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Birmingham TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLittleton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCamden TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBethel TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Brooklyn Township’s history

What year was Brooklyn Township founded?

The Brooklyn Township post office opened in 1840, 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 (2), 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.