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History · Cornwall Township

Cornwall Township’s post office opened in 1879, and 54% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1934 on.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
54%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cornwall Township began

When was Cornwall Township founded?

1879

The Cornwall Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cornwall (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 222147 years
Founding year: the first Cornwall Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cornwall 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 Cornwall Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Cornwall Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cornwall Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cornwall 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
The story so far

Cornwall Township, in brief

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

Cornwall Township is one of twenty-four townships in Henry County, Illinois, US. At the 2020 census, its population was 222 and it contained 110 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 278 to 222 (-20%).

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

Timeline

Cornwall Township, 1862 to 1934

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1862Born hereArt Benedict is born here
  3. 1879Post officeThe Cornwall post office opens
  4. 1894Post officeThe Cornwall post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1934On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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
On the map

Cornwall Township on the map, 1934 to 1991

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

Cornwall Township on the 1934 USGS mapCornwall Township on the 1953 USGS mapCornwall Township on the 1991 USGS map1934Geneseo 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 Cornwall Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Acme SchoolschoolBrandon SchoolschoolBrown Presbyterian ChurchchurchDickey SchoolschoolGrove SchoolschoolLiberty ChurchchurchParker Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cornwall Township
Grand ViewLibertySaint Anthony

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.

Munson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAnnawan Township2 historic placesA−Burns TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAtkinson TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Cornwall Township’s history

What year was Cornwall Township founded?

The Cornwall Township post office opened in 1879, 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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.