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History · Grand Rapids Township

74% of Grand Rapids Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1985 on.

0on the National Register
74%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Grand Rapids 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 Rapids Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Grand Rapids Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Grand Rapids Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Grand Rapids 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
The story so far

Grand Rapids Township, in brief

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

Grand Rapids Township is located in LaSalle County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 299 and it contained 125 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 335 to 299 (-11%).

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

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.
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On the map

Grand Rapids Township on the map, 1985 to 1991

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

Grand Rapids Township on the 1985 USGS mapGrand Rapids Township on the 1991 USGS map1985Ottawa sheet · 1:100,000

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Center SchoolschoolGerman Methodist ChurchchurchHoward SchoolschoolOxford SchoolschoolPrairie Queen SchoolschoolProspect SchoolschoolRees FieldairportRees SchoolschoolYale Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Grand Rapids Township
Grand RapidsGrand Rapids Methodist

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.

Fall River Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFarm Ridge TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOtter Creek TownshipIts storyC−Brookfield TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Grand Rapids 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 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.