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Vermilion County CourthousePhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Danville Township

Danville Township’s post office opened in 1827, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

9 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1840.

1827first post office
9on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Danville Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Danville Township began

When was Danville Township founded?

1827

The Danville Township post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Grape Creek (1881) and Hillery (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 503 in 18402020 census: 27,443199 years
Founding year: the first Danville Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Danville 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 writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Danville Township, and 7 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 18995 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1978. Watch Danville Township change.Boom and bustPeaked at 42,570 in 1970; 29,204 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Danville Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBird's eye view of the city of Danville…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
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.

Grape Creek
1881–1936
Hillery
1884–1902
Allerton
1887–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BatestownBrookvilleGrape CreekHartshornHegelerHilleryWalz
Gone or out of use
Harmattan Strip Minemine
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Danville Township
AthertonDanville NationalForseGreenwoodLangleyLynchOak HillParishSanhill Memorial Park

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

On the map

Danville Township on the map, 1899 to 1978

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

Danville Township on the 1899 USGS mapDanville Township on the 1900 USGS mapDanville Township on the 1950 USGS mapDanville Township on the 1966 USGS mapDanville Township on the 1978 USGS map1899Danville 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 Danville Township.

The story

How Danville Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Danville Township.

Read it all →

The area that became Danville was once home to the Miami, Kickapoo, and Potawatomi tribes of Native Americans. Danville was founded in 1827 on 60 acres (240,000 m2) of land donated by Guy W. Smith and 20 acres (81,000 m2) donated by Dan W. Beckwith. The sale of lots was set for April 10, 1827, and advertised in newspapers in Indianapolis, Indiana and the state capital of Vandalia. The first post office was established in May of the same year in the house of Amos Williams, organizer of Vermilion and Edgar Counties and a prominent Danville citizen. Williams and Beckwith drew up the first plat map; the city was named after Dan Beckwith at Williams' suggestion, although Beckwith suggested the names "Williamsburg" and "Williamstown". Beckwith was born in Pennsylvania in 1795 and moved to Indiana as a young man; in 1819 he accompanied the first white explorers to the area where Danville later…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Danville Township, 1869 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869In the archiveBird's eye view of the city of Danville, Vermillion County, Illinois 1869
  3. 1879In the archiveBridge over Vermillion River, Danville, Illinois (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 4013fe0012…
  4. 1881Post officeThe Grape Creek post office opens
  5. 1884Post officeThe Hillery post office opens
  6. 1887Post officeThe Allerton post office opens
  7. 1889In the archiveDanville Team, 1889 - From the photographic studio of S.A. Watson, North Vermillion Stree…
  8. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 20th century
  10. 1902Post officeThe Hillery post office closes
  11. 1907In the archivePostcard showing Old Soldier's Home in Danville, Illinois, USA circa 1907
  12. 1936Post officeThe Grape Creek post office closes
  13. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 42,570
By decade

Danville Township, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1900s4 items
Bird's eye view of the city of Danville, Vermillion County, Illinois 18691869Bird's eye view of the city of Danville, Vermillion C…Bridge over Vermillion River, Danville, Illinois (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 4013fe00123b9acff85c5f40f67460761879Bridge over Vermillion River, Danville, Illinois (app…Danville Team, 1889 - From the photographic studio of S.A. Watson, North Vermillion Street, Danville, Ills1889Danville Team, 1889 - From the photographic studio of…Postcard showing Old Soldier's Home in Danville, Illinois, USA circa 1907c. 1907Postcard showing Old Soldier's Home in Danville, Illi…Postcard
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bird's eye view of the city of Danville, Vermillion County, Illinois 1869
Retake this viewBird's eye view of the city of Danville, Vermillion County, Illinois 1869, 1869

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Danville Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

9 listings protect 54 historic buildings

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

places listed
9
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
54
each building in a district counts

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

People over time

Danville Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,0001850190019502000Peak: 42,570

Peaked at 42,570 in 1970; 29,204 people lived here in 2020.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Danville Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Catlin TownshipIts storyC+Blount TownshipIts storyCNewell Township1 historic placeBGeorgetown TownshipIts storyA−McKendree TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDanville10 historic placesA+BelgiumIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWestvilleIts storyB

Questions about Danville Township’s history

What year was Danville Township founded?

The Danville Township post office opened in 1827, 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.