On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Locust Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #359 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Locust Township’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Locust Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1865.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±18.9 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Locust Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost half of its people between 1880 and 1990, then grew 4-fold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Locust Township’s Wikipedia page.
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.
Millersville
1872–1933
Velma
1894–1910
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
MillersvilleVelma
Gone or out of use
Buckeye SchoolschoolDurbin College SchoolschoolJohnson SchoolschoolMetsker Landing StripairportResler Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Locust Township
Buckeye PrairieDurbinMillersville
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Locust Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Locust Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Locust Township is one of seventeen townships in Christian County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,137 and it contained 249 housing units. Taylorville Correctional Center is located in the township.
Locust Township was established in 1865. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,825 to 3,137 (+72%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Locust Township in 1880
Passages that mention Locust Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Christian County, Illinois1880 · page 248Read the page →
Read the text
This was the first settlement made out on the prairie, in what is now Locust Township. The earlier settlers had kept close to the limber. At that time the prairie to the east lay all ojien and uncultivated, and few dreamed that fine farms and costly improvements would ever nuvrk the wide expanse over which roamed large nundiers of wolves, deer and other wild animals. The Illinois ('cntral railroad had not at that time been completed, although l)art of the grading had been done through the county. The town
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Locust Township, 1865 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Locust Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947Pana 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 Locust Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Locust Township
Nobody well known was born in Locust Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1865, according to Wikidata. Locust Township’s post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1870 counted 825 people here.
How does Locust Township rank for history?
Locust Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #359 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Locust Township?
45% of Locust Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±18.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1951.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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