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History · Carman Township

Carman Township’s post office opened in 1872, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

1872first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Carman Township began

When was Carman Township founded?

1872

The Carman Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Shohoken (1833) and Yellow Banks (1833), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 227154 years
Founding year: the first Carman Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Carman 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 Carman Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Carman Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Carman Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Carman 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

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Shohoken
1833–1872
Yellow Banks
1833–1836
Carman
1872–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CarmanCarthage LakeHeapsvilleShokokonSilver LakeYellow Banks
Gone or out of use
Ellison Valley SchoolschoolJohnson Farm AirportairportKirby Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Carman Township
Carman

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

The story so far

Carman Township, in brief

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

Carman is an unincorporated village in Carman Township, Henderson County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Carman had a population of 67.

Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 309 to 227 (-27%).

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

Timeline

Carman Township, 1833 to 1872

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1833Post officeThe Shohoken post office opens
  3. 1833Post officeThe Yellow Banks post office opens
  4. 1836Post officeThe Yellow Banks post office closes
  5. 1872Post officeThe Shohoken post office closes
  6. 1872Post officeThe Carman post office opens
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.
Add from your album
Famous people

Famous people close to Carman Township

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

See all →
Robert NoyceAmerican physicist, engineer and entrepreneur (… · b. 1927
Wallace CarothersAmerican organic chemist · b. 1896
Aldo LeopoldAmerican writer and scientist · b. 1887
Kurt WarnerAmerican football player · b. 1971
William FrawleyAmerican actor · b. 1887
James M. KellyNASA astronaut · b. 1964
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Stronghurst TownshipIts storyC+Gladstone Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGulfportIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLomax TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Carman Township’s history

What year was Carman Township founded?

The Carman Township post office opened in 1872, 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 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.