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History · Keithsburg Township

Keithsburg Township’s post office opened in 1848, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1850.

1848first post office
2on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Keithsburg Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Keithsburg Township began, and where its name came from

When was Keithsburg Township founded?

1848

The Keithsburg Township post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 252 in 18502020 census: 644178 years

How did Keithsburg Township get its name?

Keithsburg Township was named for Robert Keith, a pioneer settler.

Founding year: the first Keithsburg Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

What stands out about Keithsburg 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 writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,566 in 1900; 550 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1848: 178 years of Keithsburg Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Keithsburg Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewIllinois-Iowa, Keithsburg quadrangle: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Keithsburg Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001850190019502000Peak: 1,566

Peaked at 1,566 in 1900; 550 people lived here in 2020.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Keithsburg Township’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Keithsburg Township, 1900 to 1941

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 1,566
  3. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1941In the archiveIllinois-Iowa, Keithsburg quadrangle
The story so far

Keithsburg Township, in brief

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

Keithsburg is a city in Mercer County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River. The population was 550 at the 2020 census, down from 609 in 2010. It was named for Robert Keith, a pioneer settler. Due to a flood in 1993, there isn't much to do in Keithsburg. Some of the things that are still in use today include, a bar/restaurant named “The Eagles Nest”, and one or two playgrounds.

Its first post office opened in 1848. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 687 to 644 (-6%).

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

By decade

Keithsburg Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Illinois-Iowa, Keithsburg quadrangle1941Illinois-Iowa, Keithsburg quadrangle
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Keithsburg Bridge, Sixteenth Street Spanning Pope CreekDate?Keithsburg Bridge, Sixteenth Street Spanning Pope Cre…
Today4 recent
Mark Twain Wildlife Refuge Keithsburg Illinois September 20182018Mark Twain Wildlife Refuge Keithsburg Illinois Septem…Keithsburg Illinois2017Keithsburg IllinoisMain east of Fourth in2014Main east of Fourth inCommercial House2014Commercial House
On the map

Keithsburg Township on the map, 1935 to 1982

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

Keithsburg Township on the 1935 USGS mapKeithsburg Township on the 1941 USGS mapKeithsburg Township on the 1982 USGS map1935Keithsburg 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 Keithsburg Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Illinois-Iowa, Keithsburg quadrangle
Retake this viewIllinois-Iowa, Keithsburg quadrangle, 1941

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Keithsburg Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 15 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
15
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Keithsburg2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAbington TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNew Boston Township5 historic placesABald Bluff TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Keithsburg Township’s history

What year was Keithsburg Township founded?

The Keithsburg Township post office opened in 1848, 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 Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.