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History · Fairhaven Township

Fairhaven Township’s post office opened in 1850, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1934 on.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fairhaven Township began

When was Fairhaven Township founded?

1850

The Fairhaven Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Fairhaven (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 757176 years
Founding year: the first Fairhaven Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Fairhaven 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 Fairhaven Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Fairhaven Township’s homes were built before 1947.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fairhaven Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairhaven 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
The story so far

Fairhaven Township, in brief

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

Fairhaven Township is one of twelve townships in Carroll County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 757 and it contained 399 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1850. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 910 to 757 (-17%).

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

Timeline

Fairhaven Township, 1850 to 1934

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Fairhaven post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Fairhaven post office closes
  5. 1934On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Fairhaven Township on the map, 1934 to 1985

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

Fairhaven Township on the 1934 USGS mapFairhaven Township on the 1940 USGS mapFairhaven Township on the 1985 USGS map1934Morrison 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 Fairhaven Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Fairhaven Township

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

See all →
Robert Andrews MillikanAmerican physicist · b. 1868
Lafe McKeeActor · b. 1872
Dean CameronAmerican actor · b. 1962
Gertrude Foster BrownAmerican concert pianist, teacher, and suffrage… · b. 1867
C. Louise BoehringerAmerican politician; superintendent of schools · b. 1878
N
Norbert DavisAmerican crime fiction author · b. 1909
Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Fairhaven, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Fair Haven
Gone or out of use
Emerson SchoolschoolFair Haven Center SchoolschoolFox SchoolschoolHartman SchoolschoolJackson SchoolschoolJefferson SchoolschoolPleasant Hill Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fairhaven Township
Black OakChadwickFairhavenHope Brethren

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Wysox TownshipIts storyB+York TownshipIts storyCSalem TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClyde Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Fairhaven Township’s history

What year was Fairhaven Township founded?

The Fairhaven Township post office opened in 1850, 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 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.