How Kickapoo Township began, and where its name came from
When was Kickapoo Township founded?
1847
The Kickapoo Township post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Kickapoo (1847), Edwards Station (1856) and Radnor (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 8,401179 years
How did Kickapoo Township get its name?
Kickapoo Township was named after the Kickapoo people.
How historic is Kickapoo Township?
C+
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Kickapoo Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
History grade
What drives Kickapoo Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kickapoo Township is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #485 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kickapoo 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 Kickapoo Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Kickapoo 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 Kickapoo Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Kickapoo is an unincorporated community in Kickapoo Township, Peoria County, Illinois, United States. Kickapoo is located on U.S. Route 150, 10.8 miles (17.4 km) northwest of downtown Peoria. It was named after the Kickapoo people.
Its first post office opened in 1847. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 7,158 to 8,401 (+17%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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 Kickapoo Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1967Peoria West sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kickapoo Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Kickapoo Township
Nobody well known was born in Kickapoo Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Kickapoo Township post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kickapoo Township rank for history?
Kickapoo Township is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #485 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 Kickapoo Township?
4% of Kickapoo Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 2003.
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) 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.
