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CompilationHarrisburgIL 2009Photo: Ruhe1986 · Public domain
A−History
History · Harrisburg Township

Harrisburg Township dates to 1847, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #181 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1925 on, and the census since 1860.

1847founded
2on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Harrisburg Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Harrisburg Township began

When was Harrisburg Township founded?

1847

Harrisburg Township dates its founding to 1847 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 453 in 18602020 census: 10,037179 years

How historic is Harrisburg Township?

A−

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1856.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Harrisburg Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harrisburg Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #181 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Harrisburg Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1847, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194015.8% of homes (±4.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register2 listings, 3 historic buildings, 3.0 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 77%

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 Harrisburg Township’s 3.0 sits above most of its state (70% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.0 points). Two sources give 1847.

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 Harrisburg Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 15,659 in 1930; 8,219 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Harrisburg Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1876–1950.Deep rootsEstablished in 1847: 179 years of Harrisburg Township.
★ What stands out · People over time

Harrisburg Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,000190019502000Peak: 15,659

Peaked at 15,659 in 1930; 8,219 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
LedfordLibertyPankeyville
Gone or out of use
East Ingram Hill SchoolschoolUnion Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Harrisburg Township
LedfordMount PleasantSunset Hill

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

By decade

Harrisburg Township, decade by decade

6 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1920s5 items
Salinecourthouseandhotelsterling1876SalinecourthouseandhotelsterlingWoolcottmills1898WoolcottmillsHarrisburgilmap19251920Harrisburgilmap1925SIP&R Company1920SIP&R Company8th grade graduates, May 30th, 192919298th grade graduates, May 30th, 1929
1930s–1940s6 items
Merchants Ice and Fuel Co., guests of Sahara Coal Co., Country Club1935Merchants Ice and Fuel Co., guests of Sahara Coal Co.…Photograph of a Mode of Transportation at1937Photograph of a Mode of Transportation atDebris from the flood1937Debris from the floodColored flood refugees leaving town. Harrisburg, Illinois1937Colored flood refugees leaving town. Harrisburg, Illi…First Trust and Savings Bank1940First Trust and Savings BankGoing. Five miles south of intersection of Illinois Route 13 and on Route 1 (near Harrisburg)1940Going. Five miles south of intersection of Illinois R…
1950s1 item
Harrisburg, IL Areal Junior High1950Harrisburg, IL Areal Junior High
1960s–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
The story

How Harrisburg Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Harrisburg Township.

Read it all →

At the beginning of recorded American history, the Harrisburg area was inhabited by several Algonquian tribes, including the Shawnee and Piankashaw, who lived in the dense inland forests. Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the Piankashaw tribe was driven out by the more aggressive Shawnee. European settlement in Illinois began with the French from 1690 and reached its peak about 1750, mainly along the Mississippi River. American settlers arrived in 1790. The French came as merchants and missionaries, with farming supplementing the need for trade. The result had benefited both the settlers and the Native Americans. The American migration, however, followed treaties which resulted in land being distributed through American Law, ignoring previous indigenous rights. Encroachment ensued and caused hard feelings between the Native Americans and the settlers who moved into the interior…

ChaptersPioneer and native coexistenceFoundingIndustrial originsCoal and rail eraSlow economic declinePost-coal economy

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Harrisburg Township, 1847 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1847
    FoundingHarrisburg Township is established
  3. 1876In the archiveSalinecourthouseandhotelsterling
  4. 1880Post officeThe Ledford post office opens
  5. 1898In the archiveWoolcottmills
  6. 20th century
  7. 1920In the archiveHarrisburgilmap1925
  8. 1925On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 15,659
  10. 1931Post officeThe Ledford post office closes
  11. 1935In the archiveMerchants Ice and Fuel Co., guests of Sahara Coal Co., Country Club
  12. 1940In the archiveFirst Trust and Savings Bank
  13. 1950In the archiveHarrisburg, IL Areal Junior High
On the map

Harrisburg Township on the map, 1925 to 1990

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

Harrisburg Township on the 1925 USGS mapHarrisburg Township on the 1939 USGS mapHarrisburg Township on the 1961 USGS mapHarrisburg Township on the 1990 USGS map1925Harrisburg 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 Harrisburg Township.

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.

Salinecourthouseandhotelsterling
Retake this viewSalinecourthouseandhotelsterling, 1876

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Harrisburg Township

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts

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

Help out

Finish Harrisburg Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSalinecourthouseandhotelsterling: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Cottage TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townIndependence TownshipIts storyDCarrier Mills TownshipIts storyC+Raleigh TownshipIts storyC+Brushy TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Harrisburg Township’s history

What year was Harrisburg Township founded?

In 1847, according to Wikidata. Harrisburg Township’s post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1860 counted 453 people here.

How does Harrisburg Township rank for history?

Harrisburg Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #181 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 Harrisburg Township?

16% of Harrisburg Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1968.

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), the Library of Congress (5), 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.