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History · Lively Grove Township

Lively Grove Township’s post office opened in 1861

Most of Lively Grove Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1910 on.

1861first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Lively Grove Township began

When was Lively Grove Township founded?

1861

The Lively Grove Township post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Lively Grove (1861) and Caspars (1876), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 550165 years
Founding year: the first Lively Grove Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lively Grove 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 Lively Grove Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lively Grove Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19103 editions of the USGS map, 1910 to 1964. Watch Lively Grove Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lively Grove Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lively Grove 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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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.

Lively Grove
1861–1907
Caspars
1876–1907
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BiddlebornCasparsClarminLively Grove
Gone or out of use
Caspars Post Officepost officeClarmin SchoolschoolDickey SchoolschoolGravel Hill SchoolschoolPrest SchoolschoolShubert Airportairport
1cemetery inside Lively Grove Township
Old Salem

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

On the map

Lively Grove Township on the map, 1910 to 1964

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

Lively Grove Township on the 1910 USGS mapLively Grove Township on the 1940 USGS mapLively Grove Township on the 1964 USGS map1910Okawville 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 Lively Grove Township.

The story so far

Lively Grove Township, in brief

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

Lively Grove is an unincorporated community in Johannisburg and Lively Grove Townships, Washington County, Illinois, United States. Lively Grove is located on Illinois Route 153, 6.5 miles (10.5 km) northwest of Oakdale. Lively Grove is approximately 3.6 miles (5.8 km) from Elkton. Its main attraction is the Waller's Market. A major local industry is the mining of coal.

Its first post office opened in 1861. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 688 to 550 (-20%).

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

Timeline

Lively Grove Township, 1861 to 1910

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861Post officeThe Lively Grove post office opens
  3. 1876Post officeThe Caspars post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907Post officeThe Lively Grove post office closes
  6. 1907Post officeThe Caspars post office closes
  7. 1910On 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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Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Johannisburg TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOakdale TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarissa Township1 historic placeA

Questions about Lively Grove Township’s history

What year was Lively Grove Township founded?

The Lively Grove Township post office opened in 1861, 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 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.