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History · Eastern Township

Eastern Township’s post office opened in 1869, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1941 on and the census since 2000.

1869first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Eastern Township began

When was Eastern Township founded?

1869

The Eastern Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Eastern (1869) and Bessie (1896), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 528 in 20002020 census: 589157 years
Founding year: the first Eastern Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Eastern 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 Eastern Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Eastern Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Eastern Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Eastern 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

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

Akin
1860–today
Eastern
1869–1876
Bessie
1896–1901
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AkinAkin JunctionBessieBoothbyRust
Gone or out of use
Bethel ChurchchurchCenter SchoolschoolEastern Post Officepost officeKnob Prairie SchoolschoolManion SchoolschoolMormon ChurchchurchOld Akin SchoolschoolThistle Ridge Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Eastern Township
BradyCookJonesManionOtterson

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

The story so far

Eastern Township, in brief

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

Eastern Township is one of twelve townships in Franklin County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 589 and it contained 270 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1869. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 582 in 2010, 589 in 2020.

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Eastern Township in 1918

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

Eastern Township borders on Hamilton and lies south of Northern. It took its name from the name of a postoffice that NEW DOUGLAS SCHOOL, BENTON, ILLINOIS
Franklin County history1918 · page 94Read the page →
Read the text

Eastern Township borders on Hamilton and lies south of Northern. It took its name from the name of a postoffice that NEW DOUGLAS SCHOOL, BENTON, ILLINOIS

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

Eastern Township, 1860 to 1941

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860Post officeThe Akin post office opens
  3. 1869Post officeThe Eastern post office opens
  4. 1876Post officeThe Eastern post office closes
  5. 1896Post officeThe Bessie post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1901Post officeThe Bessie post office closes
  8. 1941On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Eastern Township on the map, 1941 to 1963

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

Eastern Township on the 1941 USGS mapEastern Township on the 1963 USGS map1941West Frankfort 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 Eastern Township.

People over time

Eastern Township, census by census

010020030040050060020002020Peak: 589

Between 528 and 589 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Eastern Township

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

See all →
Kenneth J. GrayAmerican politician · b. 1924
Hal SmithAmerican baseball player · b. 1930
Robert P. HillAmerican politician · b. 1874
Tim Lee HallAmerican politician · b. 1925
J
Joe WendryhoskiAmerican football player · b. 1938
B
Bill WallerAmerican football coach · b. 1911
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Flannigan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCave TownshipIts storyB−Northern TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBenton Township1 historic placeA−

Questions about Eastern Township’s history

What year was Eastern Township founded?

The Eastern Township post office opened in 1869, 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, 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.