Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Field Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: maps from 1933 on and the census since 2000.
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Field Township is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Field 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.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Field Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Field Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Field Township is one of sixteen townships in Jefferson County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,482 and it contained 648 housing units.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,468 in 2010, 1,482 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Field Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Field Township contains little to write about, except the mere fact of its settlement, as it is without towns, without railroads and without manufactories. Its population is devoted chiefly to farming and stock-raising, and are an industrious and prosperous people. One of the largest stock-raisers in the township is John McConnell, who devotes
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first schoolhouse in Field Township was built on Big Muddy on the MeCrary farm. It was a log cabin about sixteen feet square, and of the usual pioneer pattern, with its slab seats, puncheon floor and oldtime fire-place. .'„ There are now in the township six good, commodious schoolhouses, well furnished and well patronized during the
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Field Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Field Township.
Between 1,468 and 1,566 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Field Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Field Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Divide, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Field Township is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns. 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.
6% of Field Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1995.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
