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History · Fairview Township

Fairview Township’s post office opened in 1838, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1880.

1838first post office
0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fairview Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fairview Township began

When was Fairview Township founded?

1838

The Fairview Township post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 394 in 18802020 census: 596188 years
Founding year: the first Fairview Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Fairview 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 601 in 1970; 426 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19123 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1995. Watch Fairview Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1838: 188 years of Fairview Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fairview Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCoal Creek Bridge, Spanning Coal Creek …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Fairview Township, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 601

Peaked at 601 in 1970; 426 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fairview Township’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Fairview Township on the map, 1912 to 1995

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

Fairview Township on the 1912 USGS mapFairview Township on the 1974 USGS mapFairview Township on the 1995 USGS map1912Canton 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 Fairview Township.

The story so far

Fairview Township, in brief

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

Fairview is a village in Fulton County, Illinois, United States. The population was 426 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1838. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 698 to 596 (-15%).

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

By decade

Fairview Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Coal Creek Bridge, Spanning Coal Creek at State Route 97Date?Coal Creek Bridge, Spanning Coal Creek at State Route…
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Coal Creek Bridge, Spanning Coal Creek at State Route 97
Retake this viewCoal Creek Bridge, Spanning Coal Creek at State Route 97

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fairview Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Middle Grove SchoolschoolOak Grove SchoolschoolPisgah SchoolschoolPleasant Hill SchoolschoolRosedale SchoolschoolSchleich SchoolschoolSmith Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fairview Township
Coal Creek LutheranFosterLyonsMarkley

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.

Farmington Township1 historic placeAYoung Hickory Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townJoshua Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMaquon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Fairview Township’s history

What year was Fairview Township founded?

The Fairview Township post office opened in 1838, 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 the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.