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History · Lukin Township

Lukin Township’s post office opened in 1895

Most of Lukin Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1911 on.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Lukin Township began

When was Lukin Township founded?

1895

The Lukin Township post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Ruark (1840), Helena (1893) and Lukin (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 423131 years
Founding year: the first Lukin Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lukin 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 Lukin Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lukin Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Old burying grounds12 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lukin Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lukin Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lukin 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

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Ruark
1840–1903
Helena
1893–1903
Lukin
1895–1895
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HelenaPetersburg
Gone or out of use
Buckhorn SchoolschoolCleveland SchoolschoolFrogeye SchoolschoolGrant SchoolschoolPrairie SchoolschoolWest Ruark Oil FieldoilfieldWhite SchoolschoolWhiteoak Schoolschool
12cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lukin Township
BellBethelCemeteryCorrieGileadKinkadeMoffettOlive BranchRidgleyStorckmanWesley ChapelWright

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

The story so far

Lukin Township, in brief

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

Lukin Township is located in Lawrence County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 423 and it contained 160 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1895. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 429 in 2010, 423 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Lukin Township, 1840 to 1911

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840Post officeThe Ruark post office opens
  3. 1893Post officeThe Helena post office opens
  4. 1895Post officeThe Lukin post office opens
  5. 1895Post officeThe Lukin post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903Post officeThe Ruark post office closes
  8. 1903Post officeThe Helena post office closes
  9. 1911On 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

Lukin Township on the map, 1911 to 1968

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

Lukin Township on the 1911 USGS mapLukin Township on the 1968 USGS map1911Sumner 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 Lukin Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Lukin Township

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

See all →
Robert RidgwayAmerican ornithologist · b. 1850
M
Mark MedoffAmerican actor and writer · b. 1940
L
Lester MelroseAmerican record producer · b. 1891
B
Brace BeemerAmerican actor · b. 1902
F
Frances CraneAmerican writer · b. 1890
F
Frank MelroseAmerican musician · b. 1907
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bonpas TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDenison Township1 historic placeAChristy TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Lukin Township’s history

What year was Lukin Township founded?

The Lukin Township post office opened in 1895, 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 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.