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History · Haw Creek Township

Haw Creek Township’s post office opened in 1852, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1941 on.

1852first post office
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Haw Creek Township began

When was Haw Creek Township founded?

1852

The Haw Creek Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Haw Creek (1852), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 383174 years
Founding year: the first Haw Creek Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Haw Creek 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 writtenNo old photos of Haw Creek Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Haw Creek Township’s homes were built before 1943.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Haw Creek Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Haw Creek Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Haw Creek Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Haw Creek Township is one of twenty-one townships in Knox County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 383 and it contained 187 housing units. Its name was changed from Ohio township on June 8, 1853.

Its first post office opened in 1852. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 461 to 383 (-17%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Haw Creek Township, 1852 to 1941

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Haw Creek post office opens
  3. 1855Post officeThe Haw Creek post office closes
  4. 1857Post officeThe Gilson post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Haw Creek Township on the map, 1941 to 1982

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

Haw Creek Township on the 1941 USGS mapHaw Creek Township on the 1982 USGS map1941Maquon 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 Haw Creek Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Haw Creek Township

Nobody well known was born in Haw Creek Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Justin HartleyAmerican actor · b. 1977
James StockdaleUS Navy admiral and aviator · b. 1923
George Latimer BatesAmerican naturalist · b. 1863
Lorado TaftAmerican sculptor and writer · b. 1860
Justina FordAmerican physician · b. 1871
Guy U. HardyAmerican politician · b. 1872
Places that used to be

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

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

Haw Creek
1852–1855
Gilson
1857–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Gilson
Gone or out of use
Cedar Bluff SchoolschoolClark Chapel SchoolschoolHazel Green SchoolschoolLibolt SchoolschoolLotts SchoolschoolRebstock SchoolschoolSherman SchoolschoolSwigert SchoolschoolUnion Grove Churchchurch
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Haw Creek Township
Clark ChapelGilsonHarshbargerMaquonRussell

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.

Persifer TownshipIts storyC+Elba TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOrange TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMaquon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Haw Creek Township’s history

What year was Haw Creek Township founded?

The Haw Creek Township post office opened in 1852, 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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.