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–Not graded
History · Leef Township

23% of Leef Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1906 on.

0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Leef 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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leef Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Leef Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Leef Township.

Read it all →

Leef Township was named for the Swiss immigrant Jacob Leu, who anglicized his name to Leef.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Leef Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Standard atlas of Madison County, Illinois - including a plat book of the villages, cities and townships of the county,…1906Standard atlas of Madison County, Illinois - includin…Map
1910s–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
Today1 recent
Leef Township Community Building 2026-07-192026Leef Township Community Building 2026-07-19
Famous people

Famous people close to Leef Township

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

See all →
Gretchen WilsonAmerican country singer · b. 1973
Sam LaPortaAmerican football player · b. 2001
Arlo U. LandoltAmerican astronomer · b. 1935
Harry ParkerAmerican baseball player · b. 1947
J
Jay HoffmanAmerican politician · b. 1961
Ken OberkfellBaseball player and manager · b. 1956
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Fairview SchoolschoolIXL SchoolschoolPurcell SchoolschoolRockwell SchoolschoolRudy Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Leef Township
Grantfork United Church of Christ

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.

Old Ripley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAlhambra TownshipIts storyBSaline TownshipIts storyC−New Douglas TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Leef 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 (2), Wikipedia 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.