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AHistory
History · Edwardsville Township

Edwardsville Township dates to 1818, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #109 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

9 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1850.

1818founded
9on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Edwardsville Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Edwardsville Township began

When was Edwardsville Township founded?

1818

Edwardsville Township dates its founding to 1818 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 677 in 18502020 census: 40,585208 years

How historic is Edwardsville Township?

A

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1822.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Edwardsville Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Edwardsville Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #109 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Edwardsville Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1818, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194012.1% of homes (±2.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register9 listings, 422 historic buildings, 104 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 86%

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 Edwardsville Township’s 104 sits above most of its state (94% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 422 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% 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 (±2.0 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1818.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Edwardsville Township’s past

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

Landmarks on the Register9 places on the National Register.Deep rootsEstablished in 1818: 208 years of Edwardsville Township.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

9 listings protect 422 historic buildings

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

places listed
9
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
422
each building in a district counts

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

Timeline

Edwardsville Township, 1818 to 1933

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1818
    FoundingEdwardsville Township is established
  3. 1822In the archiveEdwardsville Spectator, vol. 3, no. 142
  4. 20th century
  5. 1915In the archiveRalph Griffin House
  6. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1933In the archiveHABS ILL,60- ,1A- (sheet 0 of 3) - Galus Paddock Farm, Springfield Road
The story

How Edwardsville Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Edwardsville Township.

Read it all →

Edwardsville was incorporated in 1818. The first European-American settler was Thomas Kirkpatrick, who came in 1805, laid out a community, and served as the Justice of the Peace. He named the community after his friend Ninian Edwards, then territorial governor of Illinois. (Illinois did not become a state until 1818.) The Edwards Trace, a key trail in the settlement of Central Illinois, used Edwardsville as a northward launching point.

In 1868 The Bank of Edwardsville was founded. It was purchased by Champaign, Illinois-based Busey Bank in 2019.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Edwardsville Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1820s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1820s4 items
Edwardsville Spectator, vol. 3, no. 1421822Edwardsville Spectator, vol. 3, no. 142DocumentEdwardsville Spectator, vol. 3, no. 1421822Edwardsville Spectator, vol. 3, no. 142DocumentEdwardsville Spectator, vol. 3, no. 1421822Edwardsville Spectator, vol. 3, no. 142DocumentEdwardsville Spectator, vol. 3, no. 1421822Edwardsville Spectator, vol. 3, no. 142Document
1910s–1930s4 items
Ralph Griffin House1915Ralph Griffin HouseHABS ILL,60- ,1A- (sheet 0 of 3) - Galus Paddock Farm, Springfield Road1933HABS ILL,60- ,1A- (sheet 0 of 3) - Galus Paddock F…HABS ILL,60- ,1A- (sheet 0 of 3) - Galus Paddock Farm, Springfield Road1933HABS ILL,60- ,1A- (sheet 0 of 3) - Galus Paddock F…HABS ILL,60- ,1A- (sheet 1 of 3) - Galus Paddock Farm, Springfield Road1933HABS ILL,60- ,1A- (sheet 1 of 3) - Galus Paddock F…
1940s–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
On the map

Edwardsville Township on the map, 1927 to 1991

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

Edwardsville Township on the 1927 USGS mapEdwardsville Township on the 1932 USGS mapEdwardsville Township on the 1950 USGS mapEdwardsville Township on the 1968 USGS mapEdwardsville Township on the 1974 USGS mapEdwardsville Township on the 1991 USGS map1927Edwardsville 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 Edwardsville 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.

Ralph Griffin House
Retake this viewRalph Griffin House, 1915

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Edwardsville Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,000185019001950200026,808

Grew from 677 people in 1850 to 26,808 in 2020, more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1850–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Edwardsville 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
Bluff JunctionLeclaire
Gone or out of use
Sunset Coal Minemine
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Edwardsville Township
Oak LawnSaint Paul Church

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Edwardsville 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 viewRalph Griffin House: 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.

Pin Oak TownshipIts storyC−Collinsville Township7 historic placesA−Glen Carbon2 historic placesC+Fort Russell TownshipIts storyC−MaryvilleIts storyDChouteau TownshipIts storyC−Edwardsville8 historic placesAPontoon BeachIts storyD−

Questions about Edwardsville Township’s history

What year was Edwardsville Township founded?

In 1818, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Edwardsville Township’s post office opened in 1822, and the census of 1850 counted 677 people here.

How does Edwardsville Township rank for history?

Edwardsville Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #109 of 768 in Illinois. 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 Edwardsville Township?

12% of Edwardsville Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1986.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), 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.