On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harlem Township is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Harlem 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 Harlem Township’s 10.0 sits above most of its state (83% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±15.4 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Harlem Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Damascus
1854–1906
Scioto Mills
1902–1962
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DamascusScioto MillsStephenson Mobile Home EstatesWest JunctionWillow Lake
Gone or out of use
Fairview SchoolschoolFlansburg SchoolschoolGreenville SchoolschoolHarlem Center SchoolschoolMillerburg SchoolschoolOppold QuarryminePleasant Hill SchoolschoolSchofield SchoolschoolWagner Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Harlem Township
Harlem CenterMartin
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Harlem Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Harlem Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Harlem Township is located in Stephenson County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 2,275 and it contained 981 housing units. It contains part of the census-designated place of Willow Lake.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,275 to 2,014 (-11%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Harlem Township, 1880–1910
Passages that mention Harlem Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The History of Stephenson County, Illinois1880 · page 510Read the page →
Read the text
by the muscular arms of the sturdy pioneer ; log after log was rolled to, and fixed in, its proper place, and while the deer browsed among the fallen tree foliage, and the howl of the wolf from the surrounding hill-tops was heard above the contest with the forest, the first house in Harlem Township attained its limited proportions. In the succeeding fall, William Baker, Benjamin Goddard and others had settled in what was subsequently set off as Lancaster Township, where Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Stephenson County, Illinois1910 · page 397Read the page →
Read the text
From the settlement of "Tom" Cockrell in Harlem Township the immigrants began to be numerous, and the "modern history" of the township begins. After 1845 there is very little distinguishing about the history of Harlem Township. Soon the railroad came through, the old Chicago & Galena Union Railroad, afterward sold to and made a part of the Illinois Central Railroad, and immediately land prices in Harlem Township took an upward jump. Nor have they ever gone down. Land in Harlem continues to be most valuable, and in respect of prices cannot be matched anywhere else in the county, although Lancaster,
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
Harlem Township, 1854 to 1962
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Harlem Township is more historic than 89% 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.
What is on the National Register in Harlem Township?
Two places: the Harbach, Gerald, Round Barn (listed 1984) and the Otte, Dennis, Round Barn (1984).
How old are the homes in Harlem Township?
27% of Harlem Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±15.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
