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–Not graded
History · German Township

32% of German Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1910 on.

0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about German 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 German Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s German Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start German Township’s collection

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

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

Stringtown
1837–1907
Amity
1880–1907
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AmityStringtown
Gone or out of use
Amity SchoolschoolCotterell SchoolschoolCow Ford FerrylocaleCrum SchoolschoolEyer SchoolschoolLinder SchoolschoolPrairie Hall SchoolschoolRoney SchoolschoolSaint Joseph Churchchurch
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside German Township
AmityGossSaint JosephsStoltzStringtown

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

The story so far

German Township, in brief

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

German Township is located in Richland County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 341 and it contained 143 housing units. Before May 2, 1859, this locale was known as Troy Township.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 341 to 328 (-4%).

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

Timeline

German Township, 1837 to 1910

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Stringtown post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Amity post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907Post officeThe Stringtown post office closes
  6. 1907Post officeThe Amity post office closes
  7. 1910On 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

German Township on the map, 1910 to 1968

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

German Township on the 1910 USGS mapGerman Township on the 1968 USGS map1910Hardinville 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 German Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to German Township

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

See all →
Elaine ShepardBroadway and film actress in the 1930s and 1940s · b. 1913
Terry L. BruceAmerican politician · b. 1944
William W. ArnoldAmerican politician · b. 1877
Edmund SebreeUnited States general · b. 1898
George E. ShipleyAmerican politician · b. 1927
Gilbert L. LawsAmerican politician and Union Army soldier · b. 1838
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Preston TownshipIts storyCSte. Marie TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClaremont TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPetty TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about German 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.