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Dwight, IL 3Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0
–Not graded
History · Dwight Township

Dwight Township’s post office opened in 1854, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 1860.

1854first post office
4on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Dwight Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Dwight Township began

When was Dwight Township founded?

1854

The Dwight Township post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Norman (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 295 in 18602020 census: 4,274172 years
Founding year: the first Dwight Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Dwight Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1880–1915.Old housesHalf of Dwight Township’s homes were built before 1956.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · By decade

Dwight Township, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s11 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Illinois - Livingston County - Dwight - ED 53-11, ED 53-12, ED 53-1318801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Illinois - Li…First state convention, Women's Au[xilliary?] Keeley League of Ill's1893First state convention, Women's Au[xilliary?] Keeley …Station at Dwight, Ill1900Station at Dwight, IllWater tower1900Water towerThe Oughton residence1900The Oughton residenceDoorway of the Keeley Institute1900Doorway of the Keeley InstituteLivingston porch1909Livingston porchRenfrew Park No. 31909Renfrew Park No. 3Laboratory [The Leslie Keeley Co.]1909Laboratory [The Leslie Keeley Co.]W. St1909W. StP O Bldg1909P O Bldg
1910s1 item
John R. Oughton House, Dwight, IL - c. 1915c. 1915John R. Oughton House, Dwight, IL - c. 1915
1920s–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
Today11 recent
Ame05198 092017Ame05198 09Ame05198 082017Ame05198 08Ame05198 072017Ame05198 07Enseigne Route 66 à2010Enseigne Route 66 àOdd Fellows Hall2008Odd Fellows HallDwight IL Keeley Building22007Dwight IL Keeley Building2Dwight IL Keeley Building12007Dwight IL Keeley Building1Dwight IL Java Stop12007Dwight IL Java Stop1Dwight IL Downtown12007Dwight IL Downtown1ILMap-doton-Dwight2006ILMap-doton-DwightDwight, Illinois2006Dwight, Illinois
The story

How Dwight Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dwight Township.

Read it all →

Dwight was laid out on January 30, 1854, by Richard Price Morgan Jr. (1828–1910), James C. Spencer (1828 – after 1890), and John Lathrop (1809 – 1870). Each of these three men took a quarter of the land. All were working as engineers for the Chicago and Mississippi Railroad. The final quarter was jointly owned by two Bloomington brothers, Jesse W. Fell (1808 – 1878) and Kersey H. Fell (1815 – 1893). All five men had links to the railroad which was to open from Bloomington to Joliet in 1854.

ChaptersFoundingEarly DwightOriginal design of DwightPrince Albert's visitGrowth of DwightJune 2010 tornadoesJune 2026 tornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the National Register

4 historic places in Dwight Township

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Dwight Township in 1878

Passages that mention Dwight Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

twenty years after settlements had been made in the groves of timber and along the water courses of the county. John Conant came from Rochester, Ohio, in 1854, and settled on the northeast quarter of Section 8, which is conceded to be the first permanent settlement in Dwight Township, outside of th…
The History of Livingston County, Illinois1878Read the page →
Read the text

twenty years after settlements had been made in the groves of timber and along the water courses of the county. John Conant came from Rochester, Ohio, in 1854, and settled on the northeast quarter of Section 8, which is conceded to be the first permanent settlement in Dwight Township, outside of the village of the same name. He put up a frame building, which is still standing in a good state of preservation, though its builder has "mingled with the clods of the valley." He died a few years ago, at an advanced age; but his widow is still living, and occupies the old homestead. Mr. Conant was the first Postmaster

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Like all portions of a new country, the main historical importance centers in the cities or more important villages. It is so in Dwight Township, and very few items of interest, beyond the mere fact of settlement, have occurred outside of the village limits. There are, however, one or two instances…
The History of Livingston County, Illinois1878Read the page →
Read the text

Like all portions of a new country, the main historical importance centers in the cities or more important villages. It is so in Dwight Township, and very few items of interest, beyond the mere fact of settlement, have occurred outside of the village limits. There are, however, one or two instances that belong in the township history, and will be given in their proper order.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Dwight Township, 1875 to 1948

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Norman post office opens
  3. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Illinois - Livingston County - Dwight - ED 53-11,…
  4. 1882Post officeThe Norman post office closes
  5. 1893In the archiveFirst state convention, Women's Au[xilliary?] Keeley League of Ill's
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900In the archiveStation at Dwight, Ill
  8. 1915In the archiveJohn R. Oughton House, Dwight, IL - c. 1915
  9. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Dwight Township on the map, 1948 to 1983

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

Dwight Township on the 1948 USGS mapDwight Township on the 1950 USGS mapDwight Township on the 1983 USGS map1948Dwight 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 Dwight Township.

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Illinois - Livingston County - Dwight - ED 53-11, ED 53-12, ED 53-13
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Illinois - Livingston County - Dwight - ED 53-11, ED 53-12, ED 53-13, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Dwight Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500190019502000Peak: 4,363

Between 295 and 4,363 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Norman, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Davis SchoolschoolDorman SchoolschoolFallis SchoolschoolLone Maple SchoolschoolO Brien SchoolschoolPrime Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Dwight Township
Mount Olivet

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

Help out

Finish Dwight Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Nevada TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRound Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Dwight Township’s history

What year was Dwight Township founded?

The Dwight Township post office opened in 1854, 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 (13), the Library of Congress (10), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.