The Lovington Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Ulrich (1891) and Lanton (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 557 in 18802020 census: 1,557187 years
How historic is Lovington Township?
B+
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lovington Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Lovington Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lovington Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. 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 Lovington 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 Lovington 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Lovington Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lovington Township
HewittKellerTurner
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Lovington Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lovington Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lovington is a village in Moultrie County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,069 at the 2020 census. Lovington was named after Andrew Love, the first postmaster in the area.
Its first post office opened in 1839. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,623 to 1,557 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Lovington Township, 1891 to 1935
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 Lovington Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1935Sullivan 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 Lovington Township.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Lovington Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lovington Township rank for history?
Lovington Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. 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 Lovington Township?
33% of Lovington Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.7 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 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.
