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History · Chesterfield Township

Chesterfield Township’s post office opened in 1838, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1925 on, and the census since 1880.

1838first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chesterfield Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Chesterfield Township began

When was Chesterfield Township founded?

1838

The Chesterfield Township post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Challacombe (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 195 in 18802020 census: 744188 years
Founding year: the first Chesterfield Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Chesterfield 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 377 in 1900; 170 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1838: 188 years of Chesterfield Township.Old housesHalf of Chesterfield Township’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chesterfield Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewChesterfield Community High School Buil…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Chesterfield Township, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 377

Peaked at 377 in 1900; 170 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Chesterfield Township, 1887 to 1934

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Challacombe post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 377
  5. 1909Post officeThe Challacombe post office closes
  6. 1925On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1934In the archiveChesterfield Community High School Building 1934
The story

How Chesterfield Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chesterfield Township.

Read it all →

It is believed that the original owners of the land, both Jesse Peebles and Aaron Tilly, were the ones who established the town in 1836. It is thought that the settlement got its name from the men's hometown of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, England. A post office was constructed in 1838 and Chesterfield was incorporated as a village in 1882. Reverend Jesse Peebles was buried in Peebles Cemetery in 1864, named after him and his family.

Chesterfield High School served the community from the late 1800s until 1947. By 1949 many educational consolidation issues were solved and Chesterfield students began attending classes at Carlinville High School.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Chesterfield Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Chesterfield Community High School Building 19341934Chesterfield Community High School Building 1934
1940s–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

Chesterfield Township on the map, 1925 to 1982

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

Chesterfield Township on the 1925 USGS mapChesterfield Township on the 1982 USGS map1925Brighton 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 Chesterfield 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.

Chesterfield Community High School Building 1934
Retake this viewChesterfield Community High School Building 1934, 1934

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Chesterfield Township

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

See all →
Mary Hunter AustinMemoirist, novelist, poet, essayist, critic, pl… · b. 1868
Eulabee DixAmerican artist · b. 1878
Mark JuergensmeyerAmerican historian · b. 1940
Peter F. Mack, Jr.American politician · b. 1916
A
Andy ManarAmerican politician · b. 1976
John McAuley PalmerUnited States Army general · b. 1870
Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
ChallacombeSummerville
Gone or out of use
Albany SchoolschoolHarmony SchoolschoolHarmony SchoolschoolNixon AirportairportVictory Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Chesterfield Township
ChesterfieldGelderRhoads

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.

Polk TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townShipman TownshipIts storyCWestern Mound Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRuyle TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFidelity TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Chesterfield Township’s history

What year was Chesterfield Township founded?

The Chesterfield Township post office opened in 1838, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), 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.