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History · Holland Township

50% of Holland Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1986 on.

0on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Holland 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 Holland Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Holland Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Holland Township’s homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Holland Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Holland 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
Places that used to be

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

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mode
1854–1974
Brush Creek
1875–1877
Fancher
1883–1924
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FancherMilneMode
Gone or out of use
Brush Creek Post Officepost officeBrush Creek QuarrymineHubbartt ChurchchurchPrairie Union Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Holland Township
FortnerGallagher ChapelGilesHubbartt

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

The story so far

Holland Township, in brief

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

Holland Township is located in Shelby County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 420 and it contained 188 housing units. The 2010 Census indicates a population of 420. Current Township Officials are Supervisor Matt Forcum; Clerk Wanda Tabbert; Trustees Marvin Debolt, Larry Lieb, James Vonderhiede, and Pat Yakey; Highway Commissioner Larry Syfert; and Multi-Township Assessment District Assessor Paul Corley. Holland Township is the site of the Holland Energy Plant, a natural gas fired energy production facility owned and operated by Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative and Wabash Valley Power Association, as well as the Delbert Mundt Water Treatment Facility owned and op…

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 420 to 383 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Holland Township, 1854 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854Post officeThe Mode post office opens
  3. 1875Post officeThe Brush Creek post office opens
  4. 1877Post officeThe Brush Creek post office closes
  5. 1883Post officeThe Fancher post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1924Post officeThe Fancher post office closes
  8. 1974Post officeThe Mode post office closes
  9. 1986On 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

Holland Township on the map in 1986

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Holland Township.

Holland Township on the 1986 USGS map1986Effingham sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Holland Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Holland Township

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

See all →
C
Carl A. KemmeCatholic bishop in the United States · b. 1960
Jimmy KiteAmerican racing driver · b. 1976
Daniel WinklerAmerican baseball player · b. 1990
Ross WolfMajor League Baseball Player · b. 1982
T
Terrence Des PresAmerican historian · b. 1939
F
Fred K. HufferAmerican composer and conductor · b. 1879
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Clarksburg Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLiberty TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDry Point Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPrairie TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Holland Township’s history

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.