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History · Grand Tower Township

Grand Tower Township’s post office opened in 1855, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1924 on, and the census since 1880.

1855first post office
1on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Grand Tower Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Grand Tower Township began

When was Grand Tower Township founded?

1855

The Grand Tower Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Howardton (1905), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 966 in 18802020 census: 567171 years
Founding year: the first Grand Tower Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Grand Tower 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 writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19244 editions of the USGS map, 1924 to 1990. Watch Grand Tower Township change.Old housesHalf of Grand Tower Township’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Grand Tower Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAfter levee break 10 miles-Grand Tower,…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Grand Tower Township on the map, 1924 to 1990

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

Grand Tower Township on the 1924 USGS mapGrand Tower Township on the 1947 USGS mapGrand Tower Township on the 1978 USGS mapGrand Tower Township on the 1990 USGS map1924Alto Pass 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 Tower Township.

The story

How Grand Tower Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Grand Tower Township.

Read it all →

Former names of this town include La Tour ("The Tower"), Jenkins Landing, Cochran's Woodyard Landing, and Evans' Landing.

The earliest inhabitants were a band of river pirates, who settled here after being driven off Spanish soil west of the Mississippi River, near the pirate ambush spot of Tower Rock. This outlaw settlement was destroyed by the United States Army dragoons in 1803. A subsequent settler was a man named Walker, who is the namesake of Walker Hill.

Grand Tower once hosted a Russian Orthodox Church. Other nearby southern Illinois villages with Orthodox churches included St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Church in Benld, Buckner, and Dowell.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Grand Tower Township, 1905 to 1936

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1905Post officeThe Howardton post office opens
  3. 1911Post officeThe Howardton post office closes
  4. 1924On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1927In the archiveAfter levee break 10 miles-Grand Tower, Ill
  6. 1936In the archiveIllinois - Edwardsville through Grand Tower
By decade

Grand Tower Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1930s2 items
After levee break 10 miles-Grand Tower, Ill1927After levee break 10 miles-Grand Tower, IllIllinois - Edwardsville through Grand Tower1936Illinois - Edwardsville through Grand Tower
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Grand Tower, Illinois, Devil's Backbone Park sign2015Grand Tower, Illinois, Devil's Backbone Park signGrand Tower Pipeline Bridge, view from Illinois highway 1662015Grand Tower Pipeline Bridge, view from Illinois highw…Grand Tower Energy Center, near Grand Tower, Illinois along the Mississippi River from Illinois highway 1572015Grand Tower Energy Center, near Grand Tower, Illinois…Grand Tower Energy Center, near Grand Tower, Illinois along the Mississippi River2007Grand Tower Energy Center, near Grand Tower, Illinois…
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

After levee break 10 miles-Grand Tower, Ill
Retake this viewAfter levee break 10 miles-Grand Tower, Ill, 1927

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Grand Tower Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Grand Tower Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Grand Tower Township, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,043

Between 479 and 1,043 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Howardton
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Grand Tower Township
GoodbreadHensonHudson

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.

Pomona TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFountain Bluff TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSand Ridge TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Grand Tower Township’s history

What year was Grand Tower Township founded?

The Grand Tower Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.