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History · Cottage Township

Half of Cottage Township’s homes were built after 2012

Most of Cottage Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2012. Below: maps from 1916 on.

0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Cottage 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 Cottage Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19163 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1990. Watch Cottage Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cottage Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Cottage Township on the map, 1916 to 1990

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

Cottage Township on the 1916 USGS mapCottage Township on the 1959 USGS mapCottage Township on the 1990 USGS map1916Equality 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 Cottage Township.

The story so far

Cottage Township, in brief

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

Cottage Township is located in Saline County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 219 and it contained 108 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 219 to 253 (+16%).

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

Timeline

Cottage Township, 1898 to 1916

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898Post officeThe Cottagegrove post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909Post officeThe Cottagegrove post office closes
  5. 1916On 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.
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Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Cottage GroveRed Bud
Gone or out of use
East Big Ridge SchoolschoolVinyard MinemineWest Big Ridge Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Cottage Township
Rice

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.

Mountain TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast Eldorado Township1 historic placeB+Harrisburg Township2 historic placesA−Equality Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Fork TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cottage Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.