Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1838.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hampton Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hampton Township is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #286 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hampton Township’s overall grade.
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 Hampton Township’s 0.5 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Hampton Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1880 and 1890, then grew 5-fold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hampton Township’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Hampton Township on the map, 1892 to 1991
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hampton Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Leclaire 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 Hampton Township.
The village was originally in territory claimed by the Sauk and Meskwaki Native Americans, and several Woodland era Native mounds are located in the village limits, and in the adjacent Illiniwek Forest Preserve. The village in 1834 was platted as "Milan" (not the village 13 miles south-southwest in Illinois—see Milan, Illinois for more). The "paper town" did not sell initially because of the swampy riverfront, and being adjacent to the north end of the Rock Island Rapids. However, settlers drained the swamps by the end of the 19th century, and the village was founded by 1900 as Hampton— the original name of Milan, Illinois. Black's Store, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was the first mercantile store to open in Northwest Illinois.
When the Sterling branch of the Chicago, Burlington A: Quincy Railfoad was completed through Hampton Township, a station was established on land owned by Joel G. Franklin, and named Franklin Crossing, a postoffice being soon after established and given the same name as the railroad station, and Mr. Franklin being commissioned its
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Portrait and biographical album of Rock Island County, Illinois1885 · page 802Read the page →
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Hampton Township is well supplied with railroads. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific runs through the south part and has about four miles of main track, with one station — Carbon Cliff. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad runs east and west through the central part, with nearly seven miles of main track. Barstow and Port Byron Junction are stations on this line. The Chicago, Mil-
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Portrait and biographical album of Rock Island County, Illinois1885 · page 598Read the page →
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spectively. They came to Kentucky in an early day, and removed from that State to Indiana in 1804, coming to Rock Island in 1836, and settling on section 3, Hampton Township, where the father purchased 300 acres of land. He at once entered vigorously and energetically upon the improvement his land, and also erected a saw and grist mill on the Mississippi River, and ran the same for some eight
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Hampton Township, 1834 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1834, according to Wikidata. Hampton Township’s post office opened in 1838, and the census of 1880 counted 576 people here.
How does Hampton Township rank for history?
Hampton Township is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #286 of 768 in Illinois. 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 Hampton Township?
10% of Hampton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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