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History · Crane Creek Township

Crane Creek Township’s post office opened in 1842, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1933 on.

1842first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Crane Creek Township began

When was Crane Creek Township founded?

1842

The Crane Creek Township post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Walker's Grove (1841) and Crane Creek (1842), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 158184 years
Founding year: the first Crane Creek Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Crane Creek 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 Crane Creek Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Crane Creek Township.Deep rootsA post office since 1842: 184 years of Crane Creek Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Crane Creek Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Crane Creek 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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Walker's Grove
1841–1864
Crane Creek
1842–1870
18401930today
Gone or out of use
Baker SchoolschoolHerget Grove SchoolschoolReavis Spring SchoolschoolSears Grove SchoolschoolWalker Grove Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Crane Creek Township
CarterHolstlawNew HopeSears

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

Timeline

Crane Creek Township, 1841 to 1933

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1841Post officeThe Walker's Grove post office opens
  3. 1842Post officeThe Crane Creek post office opens
  4. 1864Post officeThe Walker's Grove post office closes
  5. 1870Post officeThe Crane Creek post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1933On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Crane Creek Township, in brief

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

Crane Creek Township is located in Mason County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 136 and it contained 73 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1842. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 136 to 158 (+16%).

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

By decade

Crane Creek Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Crane Creek Township building 2026-08-272026Crane Creek Township building 2026-08-27
On the map

Crane Creek Township on the map, 1933 to 1971

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

Crane Creek Township on the 1933 USGS mapCrane Creek Township on the 1971 USGS map1933Petersburg 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 Crane Creek Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Kilbourne TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSalt Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSherman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Crane Creek Township’s history

What year was Crane Creek Township founded?

The Crane Creek Township post office opened in 1842, 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 Wikimedia Commons (1), 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.