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–Not graded
History · Knight Prairie Township

Half of Knight Prairie Township’s homes were built after 1977

Most of Knight Prairie Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: maps from 1942 on.

0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Knight Prairie 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 Knight Prairie Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Knight Prairie Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Knight Prairie Township’s collection

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

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

Palo Alto
1849–1902
Mellonville
1877–1878
Flint
1882–1902
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Flint
Gone or out of use
Boster SchoolschoolFairview SchoolschoolGunter SchoolschoolPalo Alto Post Officepost officeReed SchoolschoolSeminary SchoolschoolShady Grove SchoolschoolUnion Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Knight Prairie Township
AtchissonBrightGunterMount Nebo

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

The story so far

Knight Prairie Township, in brief

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

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 574 to 545 (-5%).

Timeline

Knight Prairie Township, 1849 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Palo Alto post office opens
  3. 1877Post officeThe Mellonville post office opens
  4. 1878Post officeThe Mellonville post office closes
  5. 1882Post officeThe Flint post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1902Post officeThe Palo Alto post office closes
  8. 1902Post officeThe Flint post office closes
  9. 1942On 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.
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On the map

Knight Prairie Township on the map, 1942 to 1974

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

Knight Prairie Township on the 1942 USGS mapKnight Prairie Township on the 1974 USGS map1942McLeansboro 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 Knight Prairie Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

McLeansboro Township4 historic placesA−Flannigan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDahlgren TownshipIts storyC+Northern TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Knight Prairie Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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.