Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #98 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 12 buildings. Below: maps from 1930 on and the census since 2000.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jersey Township is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #98 of 768 in Illinois. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Jersey Township’s 66.5 sits above most of its state (92% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 66 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jersey Township’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Jersey Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Jersey Township is one of eleven townships in Jersey County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 9,995 and it contained 4,487 housing units.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 10,165 in 2010, 9,995 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Jersey Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
RAILROADS 'I In 1865 the Alton & Jacksonville Railroad was extended from White Hall through Jersey Township to the city of Jerseyville, southeastward through the towns 7-11 and 7-10, passing through Delhi to Godfrey in Madison County, where a junction was formed with the original Chicago & Alton Railroad. The road was completed to Godfrey, and the cars were operated from Godfrey to Jacksonville through Jersey¬
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
riage had entire charge of the same for five years, affer which he operated different farms in the county, including the J. T. Gramas farm in West Jerseyville, for four years, the A. 0. Outen farm in Jersey Township for seven years, and then moved on the farm of Judge Thomas F. Ferns in Jersey Township, on which he continued for
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jersey Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Jersey Township.
Between 9,428 and 10,165 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jersey Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Jersey Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Jersey Township is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #98 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.
5 listings: 1 building, among them the Col. William H. Fulkerson Farmstead (listed 1998, the first), and 1 historic district, the Fisher-Chapman Farmstead, with 12 contributing buildings. 66 historic buildings in all.
16% of Jersey Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1972.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
