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History · Dolson Township

Dolson Township’s post office opened in 1851, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1942 on.

1851first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Dolson Township began

When was Dolson Township founded?

1851

The Dolson Township post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Clarksville (1839), Dolson (1851) and Doyles (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 353175 years
Founding year: the first Dolson Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Dolson 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 Dolson Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Dolson Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dolson Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dolson 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, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Clarksville
1839–1862
Dolson
1851–1907
Doyles
1894–1903
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ClarksvilleDoyles
Gone or out of use
Bartmess SchoolschoolBluegrass SchoolschoolGermany SchoolschoolGreen Moss SchoolschoolSalem ChurchchurchShiloh ChurchchurchWest Liberty Schoolschool
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Dolson Township
BluegrassClarksville BaptistDavisEnnisGreen MossShilohTaylorTaylor

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

The story so far

Dolson Township, in brief

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

Dolson Township is one of fifteen townships in Clark County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 353 and it contained 204 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1851. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 353 in 2010, 353 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Dolson Township, 1839 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839Post officeThe Clarksville post office opens
  3. 1851Post officeThe Dolson post office opens
  4. 1862Post officeThe Clarksville post office closes
  5. 1894Post officeThe Doyles post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903Post officeThe Doyles post office closes
  8. 1907Post officeThe Dolson post office closes
  9. 1942On 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Dolson Township on the map, 1942 to 1998

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

Dolson Township on the 1942 USGS mapDolson Township on the 1984 USGS mapDolson Township on the 1998 USGS map1942Casey 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 Dolson Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Douglas TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAuburn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMartinsville TownshipIts storyA−Parker TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarshall Township9 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWestfield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrandview Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKansas TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Dolson Township’s history

What year was Dolson Township founded?

The Dolson Township post office opened in 1851, 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 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.