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–Not graded
History · Lee Township

51% of Lee Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1926 on.

0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Lee 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 Lee Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Lee Township’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lee Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lee Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Lee Township, in brief

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

Lee Township is one of nine townships in Brown County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 246 and it contained 130 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 326 to 246 (-25%).

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

Places that used to be

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

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

Buck Horn
1850–1906
Fargo
1888–1905
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BuckhornFargo
Gone or out of use
Buckhorn SchoolschoolClark SchoolschoolFriendly SchoolschoolLester SchoolschoolMayfield Landing StripairportNew SchoolschoolOakland SchoolschoolWilliams Schoolschool
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lee Township
AusmusBuckhornCleavesHowesLeeMount Pleasant FargoOrton

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

Timeline

Lee Township, 1850 to 1926

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Buck Horn post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Fargo post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1905Post officeThe Fargo post office closes
  6. 1906Post officeThe Buck Horn post office closes
  7. 1926On 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

Lee Township on the map, 1926 to 1981

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

Lee Township on the 1926 USGS mapLee Township on the 1981 USGS map1926Mt Sterling 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 Lee Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Mount Sterling TownshipIts storyBPea Ridge TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBuckhorn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townConcord Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lee 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.