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History · Lima Township

Lima Township’s post office opened in 1836, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1946 on and the census since 1870.

1836first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Lima Township began

When was Lima Township founded?

1836

The Lima Township post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Meyer (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 285 in 18702020 census: 514190 years
Founding year: the first Lima Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lima 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 Lima Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 797 in 1910; 148 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Lima Township’s homes were built before 1949.Deep rootsA post office since 1836: 190 years of Lima Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lima Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lima 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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People over time

Lima Township, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 797

Peaked at 797 in 1910; 148 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lima Township’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Lima Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lima Township.

Read it all →

Lima was platted in 1833, the year that the first store was established in the village, by Dr. Joseph Orr. Orr named the village Lima after Lima, Peru, on the suggestion of a Peruvian friend. In 1839 a large number of Latter-day Saints settled at this location. An LDS stake was organized here in 1840 and a conference here in 1841 had more than 400 Latter-day Saints presence. The Latter-day Saints left in 1845 due to mob violence.

As of 1955, Lima was the principal community of Lima Township, Illinois.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lima Township, 1895 to 1946

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1895Post officeThe Meyer post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 797
  5. 1923Post officeThe Meyer post office closes
  6. 1946On 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.

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On the map

Lima Township on the map, 1946 to 1981

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

Lima Township on the 1946 USGS mapLima Township on the 1981 USGS map1946Mendon 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 Lima Township.

Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Meyer
Gone or out of use
Eshom SchoolschoolGreen Street SchoolschoolHagemeister Landing StripairportHaynes SchoolschoolLima QuarrymineMcAllister Landing StripairportMeyer Number 2 SchoolschoolOak Forest SchoolschoolOak Ridge SchoolschoolThe Adwell Corporation AirportairportVictory Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lima Township
GallemoreHigginsKarnes

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.

Mendon Township1 historic placeA−Ursa Township1 historic placeA−Rocky Run-Wilcox TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKeene TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWalker TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSt. Albans TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lima Township’s history

What year was Lima Township founded?

The Lima Township post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.