Founding year: the first Coloma Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Coloma Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coloma Township is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #320 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Coloma 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 Coloma Township’s 1.9 sits above most of its state (67% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 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 Coloma 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 Coloma Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Coloma Township is located in Whiteside County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 11,371 and it contained 5,162 housing units. It consists of the area in and around Rock Falls, Illinois.
Its first post office opened in 1853. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 11,371 to 10,568 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coloma Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1946Sterling 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 Coloma Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Coloma Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Coloma Township
Nobody well known was born in Coloma Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Coloma Township post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Coloma Township rank for history?
Coloma Township is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #320 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 Coloma Township?
20% of Coloma Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 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.
