The Elk Prairie Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Horse Prairie (1840), Elk Prairie (1871) and Fitzgerrell (1874), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 667 in 20002020 census: 701155 years
Founding year: the first Elk Prairie Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Elk Prairie Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Horse Prairie
1840–1849
Elk Prairie
1871–1905
Fitzgerrell
1874–1906
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DarevilleFitzgerrell
Gone or out of use
Crossroads SchoolschoolFitzgerrell Post Officepost officeInland MinemineOak Grove SchoolschoolOakland SchoolschoolOrient Number 6 MinemineRobinson SchoolschoolUtah Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elk Prairie Township
AbnerHorse PrairieMasonOld Baptist
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Elk Prairie Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Elk Prairie Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Elk Prairie Township is one of sixteen townships in Jefferson County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 701 and it contained 326 housing units.
Its first post office opened in 1871. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 725 to 701 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Elk Prairie Township in 1883
Passages that mention Elk Prairie Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Jefferson County, Illinois1883 · page 109Read the page →
Read the text
occupation of teaching ; his first school was taught in Ewing Township, and he continued to teach thereuntil 1861. In 1863, he commenced teac'hing in Elk Prairie Township, this county, and from that time he taught each consecutive year until 1881 . He then came to this township and taught one school in the town, and in 1883 he taught in this township. About
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Jefferson County, Illinois1883 · page 379Read the page →
Read the text
M. Grant for J. J. Fitzgerrell, the owner of the land. It is situated in Horse Prairie, in the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 32 of Elk Prairie Township, and the plat is dated March 26, 1860. The original survey (which is all there is of the town) consisted of four blocks of fomlots each. The first store in the village was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Elk Prairie Township, 1840 to 1939
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elk Prairie Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1939Ina 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 Elk Prairie Township.
People over time
Elk Prairie Township, census by census
Between 667 and 725 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elk Prairie Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Elk Prairie Township
Nobody well known was born in Elk Prairie Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
