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Ufiles1004Photo: Ruhe1986 at English Wikipedia · Public domain
C+History
History · Carrier Mills Township

Carrier Mills Township dates to 1872, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1925 on, and the census since 1900.

1872founded
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Carrier Mills Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Carrier Mills Township began

When was Carrier Mills Township founded?

1872

Carrier Mills Township dates its founding to 1872 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 427 in 19002020 census: 2,308154 years

How historic is Carrier Mills Township?

C+

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1853.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Carrier Mills Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Carrier Mills Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Carrier Mills Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1872, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.4% of homes (±4.8) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 37%
NewerOlder

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 Carrier Mills 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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 points). Two sources give 1872.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Carrier Mills Township’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Carrier Mills Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Boom and bustPeaked at 3,000 in 1920; 1,672 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19254 editions of the USGS map, 1925 to 1990. Watch Carrier Mills Township change.
★ What stands out · 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.

South America
1853–1907
New Castle
1889–1896
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DeltaNewcastleSaline
Gone or out of use
Bunker Hill SchoolschoolCain SchoolschoolHarris SchoolschoolHolmes SchoolschoolLake View SchoolschoolNewcastle SchoolschoolSahara Mine Number 16mineSahara Mine Number 5mineSalem SchoolschoolWasson Mine Number 2mine
1cemetery inside Carrier Mills Township
Moore - Vinson

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

People over time

Carrier Mills Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,000

Peaked at 3,000 in 1920; 1,672 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

On the map

Carrier Mills Township on the map, 1925 to 1990

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

Carrier Mills Township on the 1925 USGS mapCarrier Mills Township on the 1939 USGS mapCarrier Mills Township on the 1961 USGS mapCarrier Mills Township on the 1990 USGS map1925Harrisburg 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 Carrier Mills Township.

The story

How Carrier Mills Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Carrier Mills Township.

Read it all →

The first settler in the village now known as Carrier Mills was Hampton Pankey. He was also one of the earliest settlers in Saline County. Pankey was living in the area in 1804 or 1805 and he registered his land deed in 1814, the earliest date that was available to register them. In about 1811 the settlers began building blockhouses for protection from American Indians. A blockhouse was built on his land around this time. One of his sons was John Pankey, who was one of the founding fathers of Harrisburg.

ChaptersLocal school historyDowntown abandonmentLakeview (Pond Settlement)Carrier Mills Archaeological District

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Carrier Mills Township, 1853 to 1982

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853Post officeThe South America post office opens
  3. 1872
    FoundingCarrier Mills Township is established
  4. 1889Post officeThe New Castle post office opens
  5. 1896Post officeThe New Castle post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1905In the archiveCarrier Mills High School in 1905
  8. 1907Post officeThe South America post office closes
  9. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 3,000
  10. 1925On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1939In the archiveOak Street at the railroad tracks, Carrier Mills, Illinois, 8b17311
  12. 1982In the archiveLakeview Cemetery, August 1982
By decade

Carrier Mills Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1930s8 items
Carrier Mills High School in 19051905Carrier Mills High School in 1905Cmillsdntwn19051905Cmillsdntwn1905Oak Street at the railroad tracks, Carrier Mills, Illinois, 8b173111939Oak Street at the railroad tracks, Carrier Mills, Ill…Oak Street at the railroad tracks, Carrier Mills, Illinois, 8b173111939Oak Street at the railroad tracks, Carrier Mills, Ill…Coal mine. Carrier Mills, Illinois1939Coal mine. Carrier Mills, IllinoisMiner's home. Carrier Mills, Illinois1939Miner's home. Carrier Mills, IllinoisClean clothes. Carrier Mills, Illinois1939Clean clothes. Carrier Mills, IllinoisStreet corner. Carrier Mills, Illinois1939Street corner. Carrier Mills, Illinois
1940s–1970snothing 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
1980s1 item
Lakeview Cemetery, August 19821982Lakeview Cemetery, August 1982
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
Today2 recent
Carrie482006Carrie48Ufiles10042003Ufiles1004
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.

Carrier Mills High School in 1905
Retake this viewCarrier Mills High School in 1905, 1905

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

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Carrier Mills Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCarrier Mills High School in 1905: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Stonefort TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrushy TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHarrisburg Township2 historic placesA−Independence TownshipIts storyD

Questions about Carrier Mills Township’s history

What year was Carrier Mills Township founded?

In 1872, according to Wikidata. Carrier Mills Township’s post office opened in 1853, and the census of 1900 counted 427 people here.

How does Carrier Mills Township rank for history?

Carrier Mills Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. 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 Carrier Mills Township?

16% of Carrier Mills Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1972.

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 Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (4), Wikipedia, 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.