Most of Coe Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1984 on and old-book passages.
The Coe Township post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Coe (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,733128 years
How historic is Coe Township?
C−
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Coe Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Coe Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coe Township is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Coe Township’s overall grade.
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 Coe 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 C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Coe Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Coe Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Coe Township is located in Rock Island County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,657 and it contained 659 housing units. Coe Township originally was named Fremont Township, but changed its name to Penn Township on October 1, 1857. Then changed its name from Penn to Coe in January, 1858.
Its first post office opened in 1898. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,657 to 1,733 (+5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Coe Township in 1885
Passages that mention Coe Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Portrait and biographical album of Rock Island County, Illinois1885 · page 637Read the page →
Read the text
40 acres additional on section 12, and after a time another similar acreage on section 1 1, another of 40 on the same as his first, and also 80 acres on section 1, all in Coe Township. Later he bought 85 acres more in Erie Township, in Whiteside County, 20 acres on section 1, in Coe Township, 15 acres in the township of Canoe. He is also the owner of 160 acres in Plymouth County, Iowa. His residence is
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Coe Township, 1898 to 1984
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Coe Township post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Coe Township rank for history?
Coe Township is more historic than 23% 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 Coe Township?
6% of Coe Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
