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History · La Prairie Township

48% of La Prairie Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1945 on.

0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From La Prairie Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about La 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s La Prairie Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of La Prairie Township’s homes were built before 1949.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start La Prairie Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCLOSED STORE AND GAS STATION IN LA PRAI…: stand where they stood+15Share 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.

Lawn Ridge
1850–1907
La Prairie Centre
1854–1892
La Prairie Center
1892–1904
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lawn Ridge
Gone or out of use
Collins SchoolschoolHull SchoolschoolKellogg SchoolschoolSmith SchoolschoolTurnbull Schoolschool
1cemetery inside La Prairie Township
Lawn Ridge

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

The story so far

La Prairie Township, in brief

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

La Prairie Township is located in Marshall County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 364 and it contained 158 housing units. La Prairie Township was originally named Fairfield Township, but changed its name in December, 1850.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 364 to 326 (-10%).

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

Timeline

La Prairie Township, 1850 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Lawn Ridge post office opens
  3. 1854Post officeThe La Prairie Centre post office opens
  4. 1892Post officeThe La Prairie Centre post office closes
  5. 1892Post officeThe La Prairie Center post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1904Post officeThe La Prairie Center post office closes
  8. 1907Post officeThe Lawn Ridge post office closes
  9. 1945On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1973In the archiveCLOSED STORE AND GAS STATION IN LA PRAIRIE CENTER
By decade

La Prairie Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s1 item
CLOSED STORE AND GAS STATION IN LA PRAIRIE CENTER1973CLOSED STORE AND GAS STATION IN LA PRAIRIE CENTER
1980s–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
On the map

La Prairie Township on the map, 1945 to 1983

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

La Prairie Township on the 1945 USGS mapLa Prairie Township on the 1983 USGS map1945Bradford 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 La Prairie 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.

CLOSED STORE AND GAS STATION IN LA PRAIRIE CENTER
Retake this viewCLOSED STORE AND GAS STATION IN LA PRAIRIE CENTER, 1973

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to La Prairie Township

Nobody well known was born in La Prairie Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Eva Katherine ClappAmerican writer · b. 1857
France Vinton ScholesAmerican scholar and historian · b. 1897
Myn M. HoffmanAmerican nurse · b. 1883
Robert SproullAmerican academic · b. 1918
Emmett SeeryMajor League Baseball outfielder · b. 1861
J
John Code MowbrayAmerican judge · b. 1918
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hallock TownshipIts storyB−Steuben Township1 historic placeA−Valley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSaratoga TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about La Prairie Township’s history

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 (1), 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.