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History · Elgin Township

Elgin Township dates to 1835, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

11 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1925 on, and the census since 1860.

1835founded
11on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Elgin Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Elgin Township began

When was Elgin Township founded?

1835

Elgin Township dates its founding to 1835 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 2,797 in 18602020 census: 104,493191 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1837.The full story ↓

What stands out about Elgin Township’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Elgin Township, and 9 old place names are still on the map.Landmarks on the Register11 places on the National Register.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1865–1910.Deep rootsEstablished in 1835: 191 years of Elgin Township.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Udina
1839–1896
Almora
1885–1910
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AlmoraAlmora HeightsClintonvilleHidden HillHighland HavenUdinaWest Highland AcresWildwood ValleyWilliamsburg Green
Gone or out of use
DeLancy SchoolschoolOwen SchoolschoolRods Fox Valley Seaplane BaseairportWilson Schoolschool

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

On the National Register

11 listings protect 873 historic buildings

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

places listed
11
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
873
each building in a district counts

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

By decade

Elgin Township, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1900s8 items
Man pointing over field surrounded by split rail fence that another man is plowing near Elgin.Alternate Title: Views of…c. 1865Man pointing over field surrounded by split rail fenc…1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Illinois - Kane County - Elgin - ED 45-66 - ED 45-9018801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Illinois - Ka…1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Illinois (IL) - Kane County - Elgin - ED 45-106 to 156, 45-18918801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Illinois (IL)…Elgin, Kane Co., Illinois 18801880Elgin, Kane Co., Illinois 18801903 Elgin city hall Illinois19031903 Elgin city hall IllinoisCamp Deneen1909Camp DeneenCamp Deneen1909Camp DeneenCrating the buffalo to be shipped to Lord's Park1909Crating the buffalo to be shipped to Lord's Park
1910s4 items
MarmonHarroun1910MarmonHarrounView south from Kimball St., Elgin, Ill1910View south from Kimball St., Elgin, IllView south from Kimball St., Elgin, Ill1910View south from Kimball St., Elgin, IllFox River below dam1910Fox River below dam
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
The story

How Elgin Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Elgin Township.

Read it all →

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the Black Hawk Indian War of 1832 led to the expulsion of the Native Americans who had settlements and burial mounds in the area and set the stage for the founding of Elgin. Thousands of militiamen and soldiers of Gen. Winfield Scott's army marched through the Fox River valley during the war, and accounts of the area's fertile soils and flowing springs soon filtered east.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Elgin Township, 1835 to 1925

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835
    FoundingElgin Township is established
  3. 1839Post officeThe Udina post office opens
  4. 1865In the archiveMan pointing over field surrounded by split rail fence that another man is plowing near E…
  5. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Illinois - Kane County - Elgin - ED 45-66 - ED 45…
  6. 1885Post officeThe Almora post office opens
  7. 1896Post officeThe Udina post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1903In the archive1903 Elgin city hall Illinois
  10. 1910In the archiveMarmonHarroun
  11. 1910Post officeThe Almora post office closes
  12. 1925On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Elgin Township on the map, 1925 to 1992

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

Elgin Township on the 1925 USGS mapElgin Township on the 1940 USGS mapElgin Township on the 1962 USGS mapElgin Township on the 1972 USGS mapElgin Township on the 1980 USGS mapElgin Township on the 1992 USGS map1925Elgin 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 Elgin 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.

Man pointing over field surrounded by split rail fence that another man is plowing near Elgin.Alternate Title: Views of…
Retake this viewMan pointing over field surrounded by split rail fence that another man is plowing near Elgin.Alternate Title: Views of…, c. 1865

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Elgin Township, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,000190019502000114,797

Grew from 2,797 people in 1860 to 114,797 in 2020, more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Elgin 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 viewMan pointing over field surrounded by s…: 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.

St. Charles Township10 historic placesB+Plato Township2 historic placesCElgin12 historic placesADundee Township2 historic placesA−South ElginIts storyC−Hanover Township1 historic placeCRutland Township1 historic placeC

Questions about Elgin Township’s history

What year was Elgin Township founded?

In 1835, according to Wikidata. Elgin Township’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1860 counted 2,797 people here.

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 (10), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.