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BHistory
History · Cahokia Township

35% of Cahokia Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #299 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
From Cahokia Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Cahokia Township’s history

How historic is Cahokia Township?

B

More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Cahokia Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cahokia Township is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #299 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cahokia Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 64%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 61%

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 Cahokia Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.4 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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 Cahokia Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cahokia Township’s collection

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

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

Cahokia Township, in brief

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

Cahokia Township (T8N R6W) is located in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,378 and it contained 1,594 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,378 to 3,151 (-7%).

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

Timeline

Cahokia Township, 1855 to 1931

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Post officeThe Hornsby post office opens
  3. 1893Born hereFrank W. Fries is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907In the archiveIllinois
  6. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1931Post officeThe Hornsby post office closes
By decade

Cahokia Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Cahokia Township on the map in 1912

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cahokia Township.

Cahokia Township on the 1912 USGS map1912Gillespie 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 Cahokia Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Illinois
Retake this viewIllinois, 1907

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cahokia Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Cahokia Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50020002020Peak: 3,389

Between 3,151 and 3,389 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Hornsby, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
HendersonHornsby
Gone or out of use
Elmwood SchoolschoolGillespie-Wyen Oil FieldoilfieldSies Landing AreaairportSilver Creek SchoolschoolSunnyside SchoolschoolWilliams SchoolschoolYoch Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cahokia Township
FarrarKarnesKinder

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.

Questions about Cahokia Township’s history

How does Cahokia Township rank for history?

Cahokia Township is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #299 of 768 in Illinois. 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 Cahokia Township?

35% of Cahokia Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1950.

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).

From the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.