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AHistory
History · Greenup Township

Greenup Township dates to 1834, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1940 on, and the census since 1870.

1834founded
1on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Greenup Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Greenup Township began

When was Greenup Township founded?

1834

Greenup Township dates its founding to 1834 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 535 in 18702020 census: 2,257192 years

How historic is Greenup Township?

A

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1834.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Greenup Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenup Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Greenup Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1834, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194018.5% of homes (±5.8) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 31 historic buildings, 127 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 90%
NewerOlder

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 Greenup Township’s 127 sits above most of its state (95% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 31 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points). Two sources give 1834.

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 Greenup 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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Greenup Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1834: 192 years of Greenup Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Greenup Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHistoric National Road - Covered Bridge…: stand where they stood+15Share 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.

Timothy
1887–1902
Walla Walla
1889–1903
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DeesLiberty HillTimothyWalla Walla
Gone or out of use
Brushy Ridge SchoolschoolDewey SchoolschoolHickory SchoolschoolLiberty Hill SchoolschoolLost Creek SchoolschoolMount Zion ChurchchurchOak Chapel SchoolschoolPrairie SchoolschoolScotch Chapel SchoolschoolShull SchoolschoolTitus SchoolschoolWeatherholt SchoolschoolWest Union Schoolschool
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Greenup Township
BlockBootesHarmonyLiberty HillPaulPeach Orchard

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

Timeline

Greenup Township, 1834 to 1995

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1834
    FoundingGreenup Township is established
  3. 1887Post officeThe Timothy post office opens
  4. 1889Post officeThe Walla Walla post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1902Post officeThe Timothy post office closes
  7. 1903Post officeThe Walla Walla post office closes
  8. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1995In the archiveHistoric National Road - Covered Bridge West of
The story

How Greenup Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greenup Township.

Read it all →

Greenup received its name from National Road surveyor, William C. Greenup who platted the town in 1834. He was one of the supervisors hired to oversee construction of the National Road in Illinois, surveying the original alignment from Marshall to Vandalia during the 1830s.

Greenup was platted in 1834, and served as Cumberland County's first county seat from 1843 to 1855.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Greenup Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s3 items
Historic National Road - Covered Bridge West of1995Historic National Road - Covered Bridge West ofHistoric National Road - Greenup Historic Business District1995Historic National Road - Greenup Historic Business Di…Historic National Road - Greenup's Overhanging Porches1995Historic National Road - Greenup's Overhanging Porches
Today4 recent
Military Museum in2013Military Museum inJohnson Building2013Johnson BuildingDepot in2013Depot inGreenup-Il-Sign2010Greenup-Il-Sign
On the map

Greenup Township on the map, 1940 to 1998

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

Greenup Township on the 1940 USGS mapGreenup Township on the 1985 USGS mapGreenup Township on the 1998 USGS map1940Greenup 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 Greenup Township.

On the National Register

1 listing protects 31 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
31
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

Greenup Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,655

Between 535 and 1,655 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Woodbury Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSumpter Township2 historic placesA−Union TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCrooked Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCrooked Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Greenup Township’s history

What year was Greenup Township founded?

In 1834, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Greenup Township’s post office opened in 1834, and the census of 1870 counted 535 people here.

How does Greenup Township rank for history?

Greenup Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns. 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 Greenup Township?

19% of Greenup Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1969.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (7), 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.