Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1831.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Georgetown Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Georgetown Township is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #218 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Georgetown Township’s overall grade.
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 Georgetown Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 points). Two sources give 1826.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Georgetown Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Georgetown was established in 1826 and was platted by James Haworth with the length of a grapevine, although the first home was established in 1820 by Henry Johnson. The town may have been named after George Beckwith, since Danville had been named after Dan Beckwith; another possibility is that it was named after James Haworth's son George. The first post office was established in 1828.
The Paris and Danville Railroad was built in 1871, and the "Interurban" started carrying passengers between Georgetown and Danville sometime after 1900.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Georgetown Township.
1966Danville SW sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Georgetown Township.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1826, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Georgetown Township’s post office opened in 1831, and the census of 1880 counted 741 people here.
How does Georgetown Township rank for history?
Georgetown Township is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #218 of 768 in Illinois. 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.
How old are the homes in Georgetown Township?
40% of Georgetown Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1950.
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 (2), 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.
2007
2007