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History · Four Mile Township

34% of Four Mile Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1947 on.

0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Four Mile 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 Four Mile Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Four Mile Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Four Mile Township’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Four Mile Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Four Mile 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
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.

Long Prairie
1858–1903
Six Mile
1870–1903
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Middleton
Gone or out of use
Grove SchoolschoolLong Prairie SchoolschoolOakland SchoolschoolPine Knot SchoolschoolSalem SchoolschoolScrub Hill SchoolschoolSix Mile Post Officepost office
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Four Mile Township
BruceEgbertFarnsworthSalemThomasonWood

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

The story so far

Four Mile Township, in brief

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

Four Mile Township is located in Wayne County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 666 and it contained 272 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 666 to 574 (-14%).

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

Timeline

Four Mile Township, 1858 to 1947

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Long Prairie post office opens
  3. 1870Post officeThe Six Mile post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Post officeThe Long Prairie post office closes
  6. 1903Post officeThe Six Mile post office closes
  7. 1947On 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.
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On the map

Four Mile Township on the map, 1947 to 1973

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

Four Mile Township on the 1947 USGS mapFour Mile Township on the 1973 USGS map1947Wayne 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 Four Mile Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Four Mile Township

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

See all →
William BorahAmerican politician · b. 1865
Harold A. GarmanUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1918
Roy ClippingerAmerican politician · b. 1886
Drue PearceAmerican politician · b. 1951
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Pendleton TownshipIts storyCOrel TownshipIts storyC−Hickory Hill TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWebber TownshipIts storyCDahlgren TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Four Mile 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.