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History · Elizabeth Township

Elizabeth Township’s post office opened in 1842, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1911 on and the census since 1880.

1842first post office
2on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
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Photo: ElizabethIllinois.jpg: Jesster79 derivative work: Tdowling · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Elizabeth Township began

When was Elizabeth Township founded?

1842

The Elizabeth Township post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Weston (1846), Avery (1850) and Rodden (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 507 in 18802020 census: 1,008184 years
Founding year: the first Elizabeth Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Elizabeth Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1842: 184 years of Elizabeth Township.Old housesHalf of Elizabeth Township’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elizabeth Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elizabeth 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

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

Weston
1846–1859
Avery
1850–1904
Rodden
1891–1936
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
North HanoverRoddenWeston
Gone or out of use
Avery Post Officepost officeBlack SchoolschoolBurton SchoolschoolHagerty MinemineHickory Grove SchoolschoolLong Hollow SchoolschoolRock College SchoolschoolSkene MinemineWeston SchoolschoolWishon Minemine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elizabeth Township
Log ChurchSaint MarysWeston

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

Timeline

Elizabeth Township, 1846 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846Post officeThe Weston post office opens
  3. 1850Post officeThe Avery post office opens
  4. 1859Post officeThe Weston post office closes
  5. 1891Post officeThe Rodden post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1904Post officeThe Avery post office closes
  8. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1936Post officeThe Rodden post office closes
The story

How Elizabeth Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Elizabeth Township.

Read it all →

Prior to European contact, the area where the village stands today was inhabited by the Sauk and Meskwaki peoples. It is believed that white settlers had moved into the area starting in the early 1800s due to the prominence of lead in the earth. These mines that were built in Jo Daviess County are considered to be what triggered the 1832 Black Hawk War and the devastating Bad Axe Massacre. The Apple River Fort was built in response to this conflict and on June 24 a battle ensued. This is considered the last Native American offensive battle east of the Mississippi River.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Elizabeth Township, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Elizabeth Village Center2014Elizabeth Village CenterElizabethIllinois-22010ElizabethIllinois-2Elizabeth Il U.S. Post Office12008Elizabeth Il U.S. Post Office1ElizabethIllinois2006ElizabethIllinois
On the map

Elizabeth Township on the map, 1911 to 1968

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

Elizabeth Township on the 1911 USGS mapElizabeth Township on the 1968 USGS map1911Galena 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 Elizabeth Township.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Elizabeth Township

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts

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

People over time

Elizabeth Township, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 772

Between 495 and 772 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Woodbine Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGuilford TownshipIts storyC−Hanover Township1 historic placeARice TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townThe Galena TerritoryIts storyD

Questions about Elizabeth Township’s history

What year was Elizabeth Township founded?

The Elizabeth Township post office opened in 1842, 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (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.