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History · Emmet Township

Half of Emmet Township’s homes were built after 1974

Most of Emmet Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1958 on.

0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Emmet 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 Emmet Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Emmet Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Emmet Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Emmet Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Spring Creek
1843–1858
Walker's
1850–1852
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Little IrelandSpring Creek Settlement
Gone or out of use
Brickyard SchoolschoolGuy SchoolschoolHickory Grove SchoolschoolIndependence SchoolschoolMcKee SchoolschoolPleasant View Methodist Episcopal ChurchchurchStickle Methodist Episcopal ChurchchurchStickler SchoolschoolTimber SchoolschoolYard Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Emmet Township
AtkinsonGuyPennington Number 1Spring CreekWalker

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

The story so far

Emmet Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Emmet Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Emmet Township is located in McDonough County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,288 and it contained 584 housing units. It contains the census-designated place of Georgetown.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,288 to 1,261 (-2%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Emmet Township, 1843 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1843Post officeThe Spring Creek post office opens
  3. 1850Post officeThe Walker's post office opens
  4. 1852Post officeThe Walker's post office closes
  5. 1858Post officeThe Spring Creek post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Emmet Township on the map, 1958 to 1990

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

Emmet Township on the 1958 USGS mapEmmet Township on the 1961 USGS mapEmmet Township on the 1974 USGS mapEmmet Township on the 1990 USGS map1958Burlington sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Emmet Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Emmet Township

Nobody well known was born in Emmet Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Elizabeth MagieAmerican board game designer · b. 1866
Marcus DunstanAmerican film director and screenwriter · b. 1975
Olan SouleActor · b. 1909
Olive OatmanAmerican living in Mormon, Tolkepaya, and Mohav… · b. 1837
Al SearsAmerican jazz tenor saxophonist · b. 1910
Joseph Sarsfield GlassAmerican Roman Catholic Bishop of Salt Lake · b. 1874
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Macomb5 historic placesAMacomb City Township5 historic placesAHire TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSciota TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMacomb TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townColchester Township2 historic placesA−Chalmers TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Emmet Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.