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History · Grand Prairie Township

Half of Grand Prairie Township’s homes were built after 1990

Most of Grand Prairie Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Grand Prairie 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 Grand Prairie Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Grand Prairie Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Grand Prairie Township, in brief

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

Grand Prairie Township is one of sixteen townships in Jefferson County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 900 and it contained 389 housing units.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 909 in 2010, 900 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Grand Prairie Township, 1899 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1899Post officeThe Cravat post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1911Post officeThe Cravat post office closes
  5. 1943On 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.

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On the map

Grand Prairie Township on the map, 1943 to 1974

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

Grand Prairie Township on the 1943 USGS mapGrand Prairie Township on the 1974 USGS map1943Ashley 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 Grand Prairie Township.

People over time

Grand Prairie Township, census by census

02004006008001,00020002020Peak: 1,039

Between 900 and 1,039 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Grand Prairie Township

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

See all →
C
Crista FlanaganAmerican actress · b. 1976
Ava CherryAmerican singer · b. 1953
William Sherman JenningsAmerican politician · b. 1863
Walt KirkAmerican basketball player-coach · b. 1924
N
Nate HawthorneAmerican basketball player · b. 1951
William B. AndersonAmerican politician · b. 1830
Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Cravat, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Baldwin HeightsCravat
Gone or out of use
Baldridge SchoolschoolBreeze SchoolschoolClay Hill SchoolschoolCravat Oil FieldoilfieldCravat West Oil FieldoilfieldFrog Ridge SchoolschoolGold Hill SchoolschoolIrvington East Oil FieldoilfieldPleasant Hill SchoolschoolPost Oak SchoolschoolSpringer Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Grand Prairie Township
FoutsGastonGileadPiskey

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Rome TownshipIts storyCCasner TownshipIts storyC−Centralia Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Grand Prairie Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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, 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.