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History · Burns Township

59% of Burns Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1934 on and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
59%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Burns 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 Burns Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Burns Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Burns Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Burns 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

Burns Township, in brief

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

Burns Township is one of twenty-four townships in Henry County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 248 and it contained 122 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 265 to 248 (-6%).

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.
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On the map

Burns Township on the map, 1934 to 1991

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

Burns Township on the 1934 USGS mapBurns Township on the 1953 USGS mapBurns Township on the 1991 USGS map1934Geneseo 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 Burns Township.

People over time

Burns Township, census by census

010020030020002020Peak: 307

Between 248 and 307 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

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
German Corner
Gone or out of use
Burns SchoolschoolCosner SchoolschoolFisher SchoolschoolKing SchoolschoolOctagon SchoolschoolRound Grove SchoolschoolTaylor SchoolschoolWilson Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Burns Township
CosnerMount Zion

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.

Kewanee Township2 historic placesA−Cambridge Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCornwall TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Burns Township’s history

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, 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.