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History · Hume Township

Hume Township’s post office opened in 1865, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1936 on.

1865first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hume Township began

When was Hume Township founded?

1865

The Hume Township post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Hume (1865) and South Hume (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 351161 years
Founding year: the first Hume Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Hume 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 Hume Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Hume Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hume Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hume 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, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Hume
1865–1866
South Hume
1870–1873
18601940today
Gone or out of use
Hume Center SchoolschoolNorth Hume SchoolschoolProphet PitmineRutherford Landing StripairportSouth Hume SchoolschoolWest Hume SchoolschoolWilliam L Rutherford Airportairport
1cemetery inside Hume Township
Old Hume

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

The story so far

Hume Township, in brief

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

Hume Township is located in Whiteside County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 411 and it contained 194 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1865. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 411 to 351 (-15%).

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

Timeline

Hume Township, 1865 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1865Post officeThe Hume post office opens
  3. 1866Post officeThe Hume post office closes
  4. 1870Post officeThe South Hume post office opens
  5. 1873Post officeThe South Hume post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1936On 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

Hume Township on the map, 1936 to 1982

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

Hume Township on the 1936 USGS mapHume Township on the 1982 USGS map1936Prophetstown 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 Hume Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Hume Township

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

See all →
Robert Andrews MillikanAmerican physicist · b. 1868
Paul FloryAmerican chemist · b. 1910
Terry BrooksAmerican writer · b. 1944
Louie BellsonAmerican jazz drummer · b. 1924
Jesse Lynch WilliamsAmerican dramatist · b. 1871
Lafe McKeeActor · b. 1872
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lyndon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHopkins TownshipIts storyC+ComoIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMontmorency TownshipIts storyCTampico Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townColoma Township1 historic placeBProphetstown Township1 historic placeA

Questions about Hume Township’s history

What year was Hume Township founded?

The Hume Township post office opened in 1865, 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.