The story
Read it all →How Foster Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Foster Township.
Foster is the name of Oliver Foster, a pioneer settler and native of New Hampshire.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
BHistory
History · Foster Township
1 of Foster Township’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #353 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Foster Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1927 on.
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Foster Township’s history
How historic is Foster Township?
B
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Foster Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Foster Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #353 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Foster Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19407.7% of homes (±5.7) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 5.2 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 57%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 54%
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 Foster Township’s 5.2 sits above most of its state (75% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.7 points).
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 →
What stands out about Foster Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Foster Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Foster Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Foster Township, 1858 to 1927
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1858Post officeThe Fosterburg post office opens
- 20th century
- 1906Post officeThe Fosterburg post office closes
- 1927
On 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 albumOn the map
Foster Township on the map, 1927 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Foster Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1927Alton sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Foster Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Foster Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2013
Salem Baptist Church
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Foster Township
Nobody well known was born in Foster Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Fosterburg, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
FosterburgWoods
Gone or out of use
Bockstruck SchoolschoolHines SchoolschoolIngersoll SchoolschoolMount Olive ChurchchurchSherry SchoolschoolWerts Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Foster Township
FosterburgIngersolSalem BaptistShort
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.
Questions about Foster Township’s history
How does Foster Township rank for history?
Foster Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #353 of 768 in Illinois. 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.
What is on the National Register in Foster Township?
One place: the Salem Baptist Church (listed 2013).
How old are the homes in Foster Township?
8% of Foster Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1980.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.