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History · Littleton Township

Littleton Township’s post office opened in 1849, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1923 on and the census since 1920.

1849first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Littleton Township began

When was Littleton Township founded?

1849

The Littleton Township post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Doddsville (1839), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 300 in 19202020 census: 297177 years
Founding year: the first Littleton Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Littleton 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 Littleton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Littleton Township’s homes were built before 1938.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Littleton Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Littleton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Littleton 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

How Littleton Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Littleton Township.

Read it all →

James Little and his son-in-law William Window were the original promoters of the town. Window built the first house in 1847 and became the town's first postmaster that same year. On October 26, 1856 Littleton was hit by a destructive tornado, setting back development. Littleton's economy was largely agricultural based until the turn of the century. The town served as the southern terminus of the now defunct Macomb and Western Illinois Railway from 1904-1930.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Littleton Township, 1839 to 1923

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839Post officeThe Doddsville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903Post officeThe Doddsville post office closes
  5. 1923On 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

Littleton Township on the map, 1923 to 1981

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

Littleton Township on the 1923 USGS mapLittleton Township on the 1981 USGS map1923Rushville 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 Littleton Township.

People over time

Littleton Township, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 300

Between 139 and 300 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Littleton Township

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

See all →
Wesley Clair MitchellAmerican statistician · b. 1874
John Calhoun PhillipsAmerican politician · b. 1870
Francis M. DrakeAmerican soldier, businessman and politician · b. 1830
E. W. ScrippsAmerican newspaper publisher · b. 1854
H
Helen West HellerAmerican painter, sculptor · b. 1872
E
Earl TyreeAmerican baseball player · b. 1890
Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Doddsville
Gone or out of use
Bethany ChurchchurchCorinth SchoolschoolFlatiron SchoolschoolGarrison SchoolschoolHickory SchoolschoolOlive Branch SchoolschoolSnyder SchoolschoolUnion Grove SchoolschoolWalker SchoolschoolWhite Frame SchoolschoolWhite Sulphur Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Littleton Township
BethanyNeidyThompson

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.

Brooklyn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBuena Vista TownshipIts storyB−Oakland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townIndustry TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Littleton Township’s history

What year was Littleton Township founded?

The Littleton Township post office opened in 1849, 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 →
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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 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.