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History · Cropsey Township

Cropsey Township’s post office opened in 1880

Most of Cropsey Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1948. Below: maps from 1957 on.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2famous people
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Quick answers

How Cropsey Township began, and where its name came from

When was Cropsey Township founded?

1880

The Cropsey Township post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 199146 years

How did Cropsey Township get its name?

Cropsey Township was named for a Civil War colonel in the Union Army.

Founding year: the first Cropsey Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Cropsey 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 Cropsey Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Cropsey Township’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cropsey Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cropsey 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

How Cropsey Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cropsey Township.

Read it all →

Cropsey was laid out 8 October 1880 by Henry L. Terpening (13 April 1836 – 11 August 1919). and Ira C. Pratt (12 January 1832 – 14 April 1917). Pratt was a native of Vermont who had been trained as a blacksmith and Wagon-maker. He came to Illinois in 1855, settling first at Morton in Tazewell County. In 1867 he purchased land in Belle Prairie Township, Livingston County, just north of Cropsey. In 1882 he began buying tile to drain his farmland and then decided to manufacture his own tile in Cropsey. In 1883 he built a large house on the west side of the town of Cropsey. Terpening, whose name was sometimes spelled, Henry L. Terpenning, was a native of New York who had been a farmer in Cropsey Township. He was a justice of the peace and represented McLean County in the Illinois State Legislature in the 36th and 37th general assemblies during the early 1890s. About 1892 he moved to Vermil…

ChaptersFounding of CropseyDesign and Development of Cropsey

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cropsey Township, 1880 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Cropsey post office opens
  3. 1886Born hereLloyd Loar is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1924Born hereGene Brucker is born here
  6. 1957On 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.

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On the map

Cropsey Township on the map, 1957 to 1986

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

Cropsey Township on the 1957 USGS mapCropsey Township on the 1986 USGS map1957Colfax 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 Cropsey Township.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Cropsey Township

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

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Lloyd LoarAmerican luthier · b. 1886
G
Gene BruckerAmerican historian of the Renaissance and Flore… · b. 1924
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Cropsey
1cemetery inside Cropsey Township
Cropsey

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.

Belle Prairie TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAnchor TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cropsey Township’s history

What year was Cropsey Township founded?

The Cropsey Township post office opened in 1880, 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 Wikipedia, 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.