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History · Dement Township

17% of Dement Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1934 on.

0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Dement 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 Dement Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dement Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dement 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 Dement Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dement Township.

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Dement Township was formed from the east half of Flagg Township on September 11, 1855. The township was named for John Dement (1804–1883), a politician and militia commander from Illinois.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dement Township, 1852 to 1934

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Brawdie's Grove post office opens
  3. 1854Post officeThe Brawdie's Grove post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1934On 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

Dement Township on the map, 1934 to 1980

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

Dement Township on the 1934 USGS mapDement Township on the 1971 USGS mapDement Township on the 1980 USGS map1934De Kalb 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 Dement Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Dement Township

Nobody well known was born in Dement Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

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J
Joan AllenAmerican actress · b. 1956
Lloyd IngrahamActor, film director · b. 1874
Knute HillAmerican politician · b. 1876
P
Paul R. LawrenceAmerican business theorist · b. 1922
Joanna BakerAmerican linguist and child prodigy · b. 1862
Ralph BakerAmerican gridiron football player · b. 1902
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Brawdie's Grove, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Govig SchoolschoolMacklin QuarrymineSmith SchoolschoolWillow Center Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Dement Township
Woodlawn

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.

Flagg Township4 historic placesBRochelle4 historic placesB+Lynnville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMalta TownshipIts storyB−Alto TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Dement Township’s history

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, 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.