Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1853.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Deer Creek Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Deer Creek Township is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Deer Creek Township’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Deer Creek Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±13.6 points). Two sources give 1830.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Deer Creek Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Deer Creek was founded in 1830. Deer Creek received its name from the creek that ran through the northwest part of the village and the red deer that roamed the woods and came to the creek for water. In the late 1830s, Abraham Chaffer started the first business in Deer Creek at Chaffer's Corner, which was located in the center of Deer Creek Township. The location of Deer Creek has moved three times since 1830, from Chaffer's Corner to New Castle, from New Castle to Belmont, and from Belmont to the present site of Village of Deer Creek.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Deer Creek Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1928Mackinaw 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 Deer Creek Township.
People over time
Deer Creek Township, census by census
Between 125 and 704 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Deer Creek Township’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
New Castle
Gone or out of use
Chaffer SchoolschoolDanforth SchoolschoolLee SchoolschoolNewcastle SchoolschoolScience Hill Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Deer Creek Township
Deer Creek PresbyterianHardscrabbleRoberson
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.
In 1830, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Deer Creek Township’s post office opened in 1853, and the census of 1890 counted 125 people here.
How does Deer Creek Township rank for history?
Deer Creek Township is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Deer Creek Township?
25% of Deer Creek Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1972.
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).
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
