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History · Buffalo Prairie Township

Buffalo Prairie Township’s post office opened in 1849, and 48% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1916 on.

1849first post office
0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Buffalo Prairie Township began

When was Buffalo Prairie Township founded?

1849

The Buffalo Prairie Township post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 732177 years
Founding year: the first Buffalo Prairie Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Buffalo Prairie 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 Buffalo Prairie Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Buffalo Prairie Township’s homes were built before 1945.On the map since 19165 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1991. Watch Buffalo Prairie Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Buffalo Prairie Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Buffalo Prairie Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Buffalo Prairie Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Buffalo Prairie Township, in brief

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

Buffalo Prairie is a Census-designated place in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Buffalo Prairie had a population of 64. Buffalo Prairie is 10 miles (16 km) west of Reynolds. Buffalo Prairie has a post office with ZIP code 61237.

Its first post office opened in 1849. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 824 to 732 (-11%).

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

On the map

Buffalo Prairie Township on the map, 1916 to 1991

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

Buffalo Prairie Township on the 1916 USGS mapBuffalo Prairie Township on the 1938 USGS mapBuffalo Prairie Township on the 1953 USGS mapBuffalo Prairie Township on the 1975 USGS mapBuffalo Prairie Township on the 1991 USGS map1916Edgington 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 Buffalo Prairie Township.

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.
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Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Buffalo PrairieIllinois City
Gone or out of use
East Buffalo Prairie SchoolschoolGoode AirportairportNorth Buffalo Prairie SchoolschoolOak Ridge SchoolschoolSouth Buffalo Prairie SchoolschoolWhite Lily Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Buffalo Prairie Township
Buffalo PrairieIllinois CityZion Lutheran Church

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Drury TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAndalusia TownshipIts storyB−Edgington TownshipIts storyB+Duncan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Buffalo Prairie Township’s history

What year was Buffalo Prairie Township founded?

The Buffalo Prairie Township post office opened in 1849, 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 →
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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, 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.