The Emma Township post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Concord (1827) and Ward (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 295178 years
Founding year: the first Emma Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Emma 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
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Concord
1827–1845
Emma
1848–today
Ward
1892–1904
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Elm GroveEmmaRising Sun
Gone or out of use
Concord Oil FieldoilfieldElmgrove SchoolschoolMaunie South Oil FieldoilfieldSeal ChurchchurchSeal SchoolschoolWard Schoolschool
10cemeteries and burying grounds inside Emma Township
AbsherAbshireEpleyGarrison FamilyLogan FamilyMarshall FerryMillerOrange GroveSealWilliams Family
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Emma Township on the map, 1905 to 1978
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Emma Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1905New Haven 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 Emma Township.
The story so far
Emma Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Emma Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Emma is an unincorporated community in White County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the Little Wabash River, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north of New Haven. It has a post office.
Its first post office opened in 1848. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 387 to 295 (-24%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Emma Township in 1883
Passages that mention Emma Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of White County Illinois1883 · page 922Read the page →
Read the text
Little Wabash Regular Baptist Church was organized first in Emma Township about sixty years ago, under the administration of Elder Hanks, of Indiana; he had charge several years, and was succeeded by Elder Charles Whiting, who died while pastor of this congregation. The church was moved to its present locality about 1827. Elder David Stuart, the present pastor, has had charge for about twenty years. Lewis Hop and William Stanley are Deacons; Carson Hon is Clerk. There is a membership of about
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
Emma Township, 1827 to 1905
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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), 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.
