The story
Read it all →How Ela Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ela Township.
Ela Township bears the name of George Ela, an Illinois legislator.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C−History
History · Ela Township
Ela Township’s post office opened in 1852
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #661 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Ela Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1923 on.
1852first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Ela Township began
When was Ela Township founded?
1852
The Ela Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Gilmer (1844), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 45,287174 years
How historic is Ela Township?
C−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ela Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ela Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ela Township is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #661 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ela Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1852, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.1% of homes (±0.8) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 18%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 14%
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 Ela Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Ela 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 Ela Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Ela Township, and 8 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19236 editions of the USGS map, 1923 to 1993. Watch Ela Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Ela Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ela Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Gilmer, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Echo LakeForest LakeGilmerLake CornerLake View HighlandsLochanoraOak Ridge NorthValentine Manor
Gone or out of use
Bennett SchoolschoolHubbard SchoolschoolPomeroy Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Ela Township
Fairfield
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Ela Township on the map, 1923 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ela Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1923Barrington sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ela Township.
Timeline
Ela Township, 1844 to 1923
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1844Post officeThe Gilmer post office opens
- 20th century
- 1904Post officeThe Gilmer post office closes
- 1923
On 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 albumFamous people
See all →Famous people close to Ela Township
Nobody well known was born in Ela Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Ela Township’s history
What year was Ela Township founded?
The Ela Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ela Township rank for history?
Ela Township is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #661 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 Ela Township?
2% of Ela Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1987.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.