Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Flat Branch Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Flat Branch Township

51% of Flat Branch Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1949 on.

0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Flat Branch 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 Flat Branch Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Flat Branch Township’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Flat Branch Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Flat Branch Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Flat Branch 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

Flat Branch Township, in brief

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

Flat Branch Township is located in Shelby County in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 443 and it contained 181 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 443 to 420 (-5%).

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

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.

Pleak's Corners
1889–1895
Pleak
1895–1902
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Pleak
Gone or out of use
Chadwick SchoolschoolIndependence SchoolschoolPleasant View SchoolschoolWright Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Flat Branch Township
BethanyLittle FlockLudwigMasonicSalem

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

Timeline

Flat Branch Township, 1889 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Pleak's Corners post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe Pleak's Corners post office closes
  4. 1895Post officeThe Pleak post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1902Post officeThe Pleak post office closes
  7. 1949On 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

Flat Branch Township on the map, 1949 to 1998

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

Flat Branch Township on the 1949 USGS mapFlat Branch Township on the 1983 USGS mapFlat Branch Township on the 1998 USGS map1949Dalton City 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 Flat Branch Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Flat Branch Township

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

See all →
Wesley Livsey JonesAmerican politician · b. 1863
Art WilsonAmerican baseball player · b. 1885
Hap HadleyAmerican illustrator · b. 1895
Heather MizeurAmerican politician · b. 1972
Brant HansenAmerican radio host · b. 1969
J
John E. CribbetLaw professor and chancellor of the University … · b. 1918
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Moweaqua TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPickaway TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRural TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPrairieton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPenn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Flat Branch Township’s history

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.