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AHistory
History · Franklin Grove Township

Franklin Grove Township’s post office opened in 1848, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Col. Nathan Whitney House. Its Register listing is the Col. Nathan Whitney House. Below: maps from 1918 on and the census since 1870.

1848first post office
1on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Franklin Grove Township began

When was Franklin Grove Township founded?

1848

The Franklin Grove Township post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Temperance Hall (1844) and China (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 757 in 18702020 census: 1,203178 years

How historic is Franklin Grove Township?

A

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Franklin Grove Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Franklin Grove Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Franklin Grove Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Franklin Grove Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1848, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194036.5% of homes (±5.8) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 7.5 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 90%
NewerOlder

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 Franklin Grove Township’s 7.5 sits above most of its state (80% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Franklin Grove 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 Franklin Grove Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Franklin Grove Township.Deep rootsA post office since 1848: 178 years of Franklin Grove Township.Old housesHalf of Franklin Grove Township’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Franklin Grove Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Franklin Grove 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, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Temperance Hall
1844–1845
China
1850–1856
18401930today
Gone or out of use
Graves SchoolschoolHausen SchoolschoolSamuel Dysant SchoolschoolSanders SchoolschoolSunday SchoolschoolTemperance Hill Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Franklin Grove Township
Franklin GroveTemperance Hill

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

Timeline

Franklin Grove Township, 1844 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1844Post officeThe Temperance Hall post office opens
  3. 1845Post officeThe Temperance Hall post office closes
  4. 1850Post officeThe China post office opens
  5. 1856Post officeThe China post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Franklin Grove Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Franklin Grove Township.

Read it all →

Franklin Grove was named for James R. Franklin, a pioneer who settled in a grove near the town site.

The Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) maintains a national tourist center in Franklin Grove, in a historic building built by Harry Isaac Lincoln, a cousin of Abraham Lincoln. The LHA is a national organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Lincoln Highway, the first road across the United States of America, which was routed through Franklin Grove.

The Nachusa Grasslands, a prairie restoration operated by the Nature Conservancy, began operating in 1986.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Franklin Grove Township, decade by decade

Today12 recent
20140120 46 Union Pacific RR201420140120 46 Union Pacific RR20140120 43 near201420140120 43 nearSqueeze the Trigger2012Squeeze the TriggerChaplin Creek Muzzle Loaders2012Chaplin Creek Muzzle LoadersBarn, Chaplin Creek Village2012Barn, Chaplin Creek VillageUntitled photo2012Untitled photo20110205 57 Union Pacific Railroad201120110205 57 Union Pacific Railroad20110205 50 Union Pacific Railroad near201120110205 50 Union Pacific Railroad near20110205 39 Union Pacific Railroad near201120110205 39 Union Pacific Railroad nearFranklin Grove IL Lincoln Hwy Assc HQ12007Franklin Grove IL Lincoln Hwy Assc HQ1Franklin Grove IL Downtown12007Franklin Grove IL Downtown1ILMap-doton-FranklinGrove2006ILMap-doton-FranklinGrove
On the map

Franklin Grove Township on the map, 1918 to 1950

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

Franklin Grove Township on the 1918 USGS mapFranklin Grove Township on the 1950 USGS map1918Dixon 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 Franklin Grove Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Franklin Grove Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Col. Nathan Whitney House
Col. Nathan Whitney House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Col. Nathan Whitney HouseItalianate

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Franklin Grove Township, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,052

Between 572 and 1,052 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Nachusa TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBradford TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTaylor TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAshton TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Franklin Grove Township’s history

What year was Franklin Grove Township founded?

The Franklin Grove Township post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Franklin Grove Township rank for history?

Franklin Grove Township is more historic than 90% 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.

What is on the National Register in Franklin Grove Township?

One place: the Col. Nathan Whitney House (listed 1990).

How old are the homes in Franklin Grove Township?

37% of Franklin Grove Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1956.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.