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History · Leech Township

30% of Leech Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1943 on.

0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Leech 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 Leech Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Leech Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leech Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Leech 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

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

Wabash
1837–1901
Beech Bluff
1886–1888
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Klines CornerScottsville
Gone or out of use
Allison SchoolschoolBarnhill Oil FieldoilfieldBeech Bluff SchoolschoolChandler SchoolschoolGolden Gate North Oil FieldoilfieldGolden Gate Oil FieldoilfieldJohnson SchoolschoolMars Hill SchoolschoolMoffit SchoolschoolOakwood SchoolschoolSaxe BridgebridgeScottsville SchoolschoolWabash SchoolschoolWagner SchoolschoolWild Rose SchoolschoolWindland Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Leech Township
AntiochGashStewartWilsonWindland

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

The story so far

Leech Township, in brief

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

Leech Township is located in Wayne County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 465 and it contained 237 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 465 to 448 (-4%).

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

Timeline

Leech Township, 1837 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Wabash post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Beech Bluff post office opens
  4. 1888Post officeThe Beech Bluff post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1901Post officeThe Wabash post office closes
  7. 1943On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Leech Township on the map, 1943 to 1971

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

Leech Township on the 1943 USGS mapLeech Township on the 1971 USGS map1943Albion 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 Leech Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Leech Township

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

See all →
William BorahAmerican politician · b. 1865
B. O. FlowerAmerican journalist · b. 1858
James R. WilliamsAmerican politician · b. 1850
Harold A. GarmanUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1918
James V. HeidingerAmerican politician · b. 1882
Mark R. BaconAmerican politician · b. 1852
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Burnt Prairie Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBarnhill TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMassilon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrover Township2 historic placesA−

Questions about Leech 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.