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History · Council Hill Township

Council Hill Township’s post office opened in 1840, and 55% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1911 on.

1840first post office
3on the National Register
55%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Council Hill Township began

When was Council Hill Township founded?

1840

The Council Hill Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Council Hill (1840) and Council Hill Station (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 161186 years
Founding year: the first Council Hill Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Council Hill 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 Council Hill Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Council Hill Township’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Council Hill Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1840: 186 years of Council Hill Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Council Hill Township’s collection

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

Council Hill Township, in brief

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

Council Hill is an unincorporated community in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States. Council Hill is a little over 6 miles northeast of the county seat of Galena. The community was named from a tradition that Native American tribal councils were held near the town site.

Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 141 to 161 (+14%).

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

Places that used to be

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

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Council Hill
1840–1931
Council Hill Station
1858–1895
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Council Hill
Gone or out of use
Northwestern MinemineStienstra QuarrymineTravis Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Council Hill Township
Council HillGrant Hill

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

Council Hill Township, 1840 to 1931

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840Post officeThe Council Hill post office opens
  3. 1858Post officeThe Council Hill Station post office opens
  4. 1895Post officeThe Council Hill Station post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1931Post officeThe Council Hill post office closes
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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On the map

Council Hill Township on the map, 1911 to 1968

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

Council Hill Township on the 1911 USGS mapCouncil Hill Township on the 1968 USGS map1911Galena 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 Council Hill Township.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Council Hill Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Scales Mound Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townVinegar Hill Township4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast Galena Township1 historic placeA−Guilford TownshipIts storyC−Rawlins Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Council Hill Township’s history

What year was Council Hill Township founded?

The Council Hill Township post office opened in 1840, 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 →
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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.