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Old Morrison MillPhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Burnt Prairie Township

20% of Burnt Prairie Township’s homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1930.

1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain

What stands out about Burnt 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 Burnt Prairie Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Burnt Prairie Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Burnt 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

Burnt Prairie Township, in brief

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

Burnt Prairie (formerly known as Liberty) is a village in White County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Burnt Prairie had a population of 36.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 345 to 297 (-14%).

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

Burnt Prairie Township on the map, 1940 to 1974

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

Burnt Prairie Township on the 1940 USGS mapBurnt Prairie Township on the 1974 USGS map1940Carmi 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 Burnt Prairie Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Burnt Prairie 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

Burnt Prairie Township, census by census

010020019401960198020002020Peak: 202

Between 36 and 202 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Burnt Prairie 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
Centerville
Gone or out of use
Beck SchoolschoolBlue Mound ChurchchurchBootjack SchoolschoolGray SchoolschoolMajor SchoolschoolMoccasin SchoolschoolMount Pleasant SchoolschoolPleasant Valley SchoolschoolSalem ChurchchurchSumpter North Oil FieldoilfieldSumpter Oil FieldoilfieldSumpter South Oil FieldoilfieldSylvan Glen SchoolschoolWhite Lily SchoolschoolWilliams Schoolschool
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Burnt Prairie Township
BarthCentervilleCravensMillerMount PleasantOld BethelRebstockSalemShipley

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.

Leech TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMill Shoals TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCarmi Township5 historic placesA−Phillips Township1 historic placeA−Gray Township1 historic placeA−

Questions about Burnt Prairie 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.