The Indian Grove Township post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Indian Grove (1846), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 4,148180 years
How historic is Indian Grove Township?
A
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Indian Grove Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Indian Grove Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Indian Grove Township is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #117 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 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 Indian Grove 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 Indian Grove Township’s 4.9 sits above most of its state (75% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Indian Grove Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Indian Grove Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Indian Grove Township is located in Livingston County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,148 and it contained 1,844 housing units. Indian Grove Township changed its name from Worth Township on May 11, 1858.
Its first post office opened in 1846. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 4,297 to 4,148 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Indian Grove Township in 1878
Passages that mention Indian Grove Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The History of Livingston County, Illinois1878 · page 335Read the page →
Read the text
Indian Grove takes its name from the Indian settlement or camp once in the fine forest along Indian Creek, which receives its name from the same cause. Previous to the Indians locating at Kickapoo Town, they had their wigwams or lodges in the timber, now in Indian Grove Township, They had left the place before the settlement of the county by the whites, or at least before there were settlements made in this immediate neighborhood.
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.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Indian Grove Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1957Colfax 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 Indian Grove Township.
On the National Register
2 historic places in Indian Grove Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Indian Grove Township
Nobody well known was born in Indian Grove Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Indian Grove Township post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Indian Grove Township rank for history?
Indian Grove Township is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #117 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 Indian Grove Township?
24% of Indian Grove Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
