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History · Lake Township

Half of Lake Township’s homes were built after 1969

Most of Lake Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1910 on.

0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lake Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Lake 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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19103 editions of the USGS map, 1910 to 1969. Watch Lake Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lake Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFort Sheridan, Ill: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Lake Township on the map, 1910 to 1969

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

Lake Township on the 1910 USGS mapLake Township on the 1948 USGS mapLake Township on the 1969 USGS map1910Carlyle 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 Lake Township.

The story so far

Lake Township, in brief

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

Lake Township is one of fifteen townships in Clinton County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 812 and it contained 373 housing units. Lake Township was formed from part of Crooked Creek (Brookside) Township.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 960 to 812 (-15%).

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

Timeline

Lake Township, 1880 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archiveFort Sheridan, Ill
  3. 1890In the archiveLake front from Illinois Central station, Chicago, Ill
  4. 1890Post officeThe Posey post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1910On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1968Post officeThe Posey post office closes
By decade

Lake Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1890s3 items
Fort Sheridan, Ill1880Fort Sheridan, IllLake front from Illinois Central station, Chicago, Ill1890Lake front from Illinois Central station, Chicago, IllLake Drive, Lincoln Park, Chicago1890Lake Drive, Lincoln Park, Chicago
1900s–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
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.

Fort Sheridan, Ill
Retake this viewFort Sheridan, Ill, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Lake Township

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

See all →
Roland BurrisAmerican politician and attorney · b. 1937
James BradyWhite House Press Secretary under Ronald Reagan · b. 1940
David BlackwellAmerican mathematician · b. 1919
Barbara JohnsonAmerican engineer · b. 1925
D
Dwight EddlemanAmerican basketball player and high jumper · b. 1922
D
Dick GarrettAmerican basketball player · b. 1947
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Posey, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Posey
Gone or out of use
Bartelso East Oil FieldoilfieldCentral SchoolschoolColmers FerrylocaleHoffman Oil FieldoilfieldHuey South Oil FieldoilfieldPosey East Oil FieldoilfieldPosey Oil FieldoilfieldPosey Post Officepost officeSchneider SchoolschoolTwenhafel FieldairportUnion Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lake Township
PoseyRoseWadsworth

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hoyleton TownshipIts storyB−Santa Fe TownshipIts storyC−Covington TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCarlyle Township1 historic placeA−Clement TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrookside TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Lake 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 the Library of Congress (3), 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.