Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Genesee Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Genesee Township

36% of Genesee Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1934 on.

0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Genesee 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 Genesee Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Genesee Township.Old housesHalf of Genesee Township’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Genesee Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Genesee 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.

Genesee Grove
1844–1868
New Gennessee
1854–1894
18401930today
Gone or out of use
Hazel Green SchoolschoolHickory Grove SchoolschoolLafayette SchoolschoolLiberty SchoolschoolNew Genesee Post Officepost officeSalem SchoolschoolSteuben SchoolschoolWashington Schoolschool
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Genesee Township
East GeneseeGenesee Grove CenterHazel GreenHickory GrovePeughWest Genesee

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

The story so far

Genesee Township, in brief

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

Genesee Township is located in Whiteside County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 784 and it contained 329 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 784 to 756 (-4%).

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

Timeline

Genesee Township, 1844 to 1934

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1844Post officeThe Genesee Grove post office opens
  3. 1854Post officeThe New Gennessee post office opens
  4. 1868Post officeThe Genesee Grove post office closes
  5. 1894Post officeThe New Gennessee post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1934On 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 album
On the map

Genesee Township on the map, 1934 to 1985

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

Genesee Township on the 1934 USGS mapGenesee Township on the 1940 USGS mapGenesee Township on the 1985 USGS map1934Morrison 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 Genesee Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Genesee Township

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

See all →
Robert Andrews MillikanAmerican physicist · b. 1868
Louie BellsonAmerican jazz drummer · b. 1924
Lafe McKeeActor · b. 1872
Dean CameronAmerican actor · b. 1962
Zelma O'NealAmerican actress · b. 1903
Gertrude Foster BrownAmerican concert pianist, teacher, and suffrage… · b. 1867
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Clyde Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townJordan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHopkins TownshipIts storyC+Wysox TownshipIts storyB+Mount Pleasant Township2 historic placesA+

Questions about Genesee 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.