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History · Elba Township

25% of Elba Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1941 on.

0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Elba 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 Elba Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Elba Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elba Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elba 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

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

French Creek
1838–1857
Eugene
1857–1888
Spoon River
1872–1877
Elba Center
1877–1886
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Elba CenterEugene
Gone or out of use
Elba SchoolschoolFord SchoolschoolPleasant Hill SchoolschoolUnion SchoolschoolWest Elba SchoolschoolWest Union Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elba Township
CattertonElbaKightlingerPleasant Hill

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

The story so far

Elba Township, in brief

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

Elba Township is one of twenty-one townships in Knox County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 248 and it contained 117 housing units. Its name was changed from Liberty Township on June 8, 1853.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 291 to 248 (-15%).

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

Timeline

Elba Township, 1838 to 1941

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Post officeThe French Creek post office opens
  3. 1857Post officeThe French Creek post office closes
  4. 1857Post officeThe Eugene post office opens
  5. 1872Post officeThe Spoon River post office opens
  6. 1877Post officeThe Spoon River post office closes
  7. 1888Post officeThe Eugene post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 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.
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On the map

Elba Township on the map, 1941 to 1982

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

Elba Township on the 1941 USGS mapElba Township on the 1982 USGS map1941Maquon 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 Elba Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Elba Township

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

See all →
Justin HartleyAmerican actor · b. 1977
Lorado TaftAmerican sculptor and writer · b. 1860
Justina FordAmerican physician · b. 1871
Lewis Lord RussellFilm and theatre actor · b. 1889
Ernest de Koven LeffingwellAmerican geologist and explorer · b. 1875
Matt WilsonAmerican jazz drummer · b. 1964
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Brimfield Township1 historic placeATruro TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHaw Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSalem TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Elba Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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.