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History · Freedom Township

Freedom Township’s post office opened in 1848

Most of Freedom Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: maps from 1958 on.

1848first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Freedom Township began

When was Freedom Township founded?

1848

The Freedom Township post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Munson (1844), Harding (1847) and Freedom (1848), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 619178 years
Founding year: the first Freedom Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Freedom Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Freedom Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Freedom Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1848: 178 years of Freedom Township.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Munson
1844–1847
Harding
1847–1848
Freedom
1848–1903
Prairie Centre
1866–1903
Freedom Centre
1867–1882
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Freedom CentreHardingMunsonPrairie Center
Gone or out of use
Gouldtown SchoolschoolMiller SchoolschoolSchool Number 248schoolThorson Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Freedom Township
Freedom LutheranGouldtown

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

Help out

Start Freedom Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Freedom 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
Timeline

Freedom Township, 1844 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1844Post officeThe Munson post office opens
  3. 1847Post officeThe Munson post office closes
  4. 1847Post officeThe Harding post office opens
  5. 1848Post officeThe Harding post office closes
  6. 1848Post officeThe Freedom post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1903Post officeThe Freedom post office closes
  9. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Freedom Township, in brief

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

Freedom Township is located in LaSalle County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 619 and it contained 269 housing units. It contains the census-designated place of Harding.

Its first post office opened in 1848. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 663 to 619 (-7%).

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

By decade

Freedom Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Freedom Township building 2026-09-022026Freedom Township building 2026-09-02
On the map

Freedom Township on the map, 1958 to 1961

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

Freedom Township on the 1958 USGS mapFreedom Township on the 1961 USGS map1958Aurora sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Freedom Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Freedom Township

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

See all →
Wild Bill HickokAmerican folk hero and lawman · b. 1837
Gary K. WolfAmerican author · b. 1941
Charlotte MerriamAmerican actress · b. 1903
Belle JohnsonAmerican photographer · b. 1864
Bill BrownAmerican football player, born 1938 · b. 1938
Frank SenoAmerican football player · b. 1921
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Earl TownshipIts storyBSerena TownshipIts storyC+Ophir TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWallace TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDayton TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Freedom Township’s history

What year was Freedom Township founded?

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

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 (1), 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.