More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #621 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Ellington Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1944 on and old-book passages.
The Ellington Township post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Cliola (1868), Eubanks (1872) and Ellington (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,820143 years
How historic is Ellington Township?
C−
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ellington Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Ellington Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ellington Township is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #621 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ellington Township’s overall grade.
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 Ellington 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 still be C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 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 Ellington 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.
Quincy
1826–today
Cliola
1868–1889
Eubanks
1872–1895
Ellington
1883–1900
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BloomfieldCountry MeadowsEwbanksHickory Grove
Gone or out of use
Center SchoolschoolCliola Post Officepost officeEllington FieldairportFranklin SchoolschoolMast FieldairportSaint Ludgerus SchoolschoolStandard SchoolschoolWashington Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ellington Township
Ellington ChurchKempLaughlinPowellVoorhees Family
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Ellington Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ellington Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Ellington Township is one of twenty-two townships in Adams County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,820 and it contained 1,140 housing units. The southwest corner of the township is now part of Quincy Township.
Its first post office opened in 1883. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,855 in 2010, 2,820 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Ellington Township in 1919
Passages that mention Ellington Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Quincy and Adams County history1919 · page 918Read the page →
Read the text
August 19, 1813. A cooper by trade, he came to Adams County in 1837 and for fourteen years had his home at Quiney. In 1851 he obtained a place four miles south of Mendon, in the township of that name, and twelve miles northeast of Quiney. His place was on the line of Mendon and Ellington Township. In 1853 he moved to a new farm, which had a small frame house and a few acres cleared. The remaining timber he worked up annually into great quantities of barrels and hoop poles. His barrels were chiefly made for the flour milling industry and he also hauled many loads of hoop poles to Quiney. At his new home in
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
Ellington Township, 1826 to 1944
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 Ellington Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1944Quincy 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 Ellington Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Ellington Township
Nobody well known was born in Ellington Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Ellington Township post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ellington Township rank for history?
Ellington Township is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #621 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 Ellington Township?
5% of Ellington Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
