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History · Freeburg Township

Freeburg Township dates to 1836, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1860.

1836founded
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Freeburg Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Freeburg Township began

When was Freeburg Township founded?

1836

Freeburg Township dates its founding to 1836 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 560 in 18602020 census: 5,065190 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓

What stands out about Freeburg 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 writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19125 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1990. Watch Freeburg Township change.Old burying grounds18 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Freeburg Township.Deep rootsEstablished in 1836: 190 years of Freeburg Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Freeburg Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Freeburg Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMarathon runners lined up at Freeburg, …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Freeburg Township on the map, 1912 to 1990

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

Freeburg Township on the 1912 USGS mapFreeburg Township on the 1954 USGS mapFreeburg Township on the 1968 USGS mapFreeburg Township on the 1974 USGS mapFreeburg Township on the 1990 USGS map1912New Athens 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 Freeburg Township.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Batdorf SchoolschoolFunk SchoolschoolHertel SchoolschoolLemen SchoolschoolPleasant Ridge SchoolschoolRiver King Mine Number Onemine
18cemeteries and burying grounds inside Freeburg Township
CulliDresslerFoulksFriesFunkFunkHamannJohn MuellerMasonMuellerMuellerReinheimerRossRothRothSaint AgathaSchaeferSchubkegel

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Freeburg Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Freeburg Township.

Read it all →

Freeburg lies in the fertile and rolling southern Illinois plains between the Kaskaskia and Mississippi Rivers. It was platted in 1836 as the town of Urbana by immigrants to this area from Virginia around 1800. The first European settlers of Freeburg were of English and Irish ancestry.

There were five migratory Native American tribes that crisscrossed each other in Illinois; the Peorias, Cahokias, Kaskaskias, Tamaroas, and Michiganics. Turkey Hill to the north of town was a popular Native campground that also attracted many early settlers because of the view it provided of the surrounding countryside. The last Indian tribes left this area by 1820.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Freeburg Township, 1836 to 1938

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1836
    FoundingFreeburg Township is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1905In the archiveMarathon runners lined up at Freeburg, Ill., for start in race, May 6, 1905
  5. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1938In the archiveIllinois - Edwardsville through Grand Tower
By decade

Freeburg Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1930s3 items
Marathon runners lined up at Freeburg, Ill., for start in race, May 6, 19051905Marathon runners lined up at Freeburg, Ill., for star…Illinois - Edwardsville through Grand Tower1938Illinois - Edwardsville through Grand TowerIllinois - Edwardsville through Grand Tower1938Illinois - Edwardsville through Grand Tower
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Freeburg2016FreeburgFreeburg, Illinois2016Freeburg, IllinoisFreeburgpark2007Freeburgpark
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Marathon runners lined up at Freeburg, Ill., for start in race, May 6, 1905
Retake this viewMarathon runners lined up at Freeburg, Ill., for start in race, May 6, 1905, 1905

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Freeburg Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Freeburg Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0001900195020004,582

Grew from 560 people in 1860 to 4,582 in 2020, 8 times over.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Shiloh Valley Township1 historic placeBFreeburgIts storyB−Belleville6 historic placesA+Smithton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNew Athens TownshipIts storyA−Engelmann TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Freeburg Township’s history

What year was Freeburg Township founded?

In 1836, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Freeburg Township’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1860 counted 560 people here.

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.