From Mackinaw Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Mackinaw Township began
When was Mackinaw Township founded?
1827
The Mackinaw Township post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lily (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 496 in 18702020 census: 4,245199 years
How historic is Mackinaw Township?
B+
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Mackinaw Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mackinaw Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mackinaw Township is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #268 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mackinaw 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 Mackinaw Township’s 2.4 sits above most of its state (68% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 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 Mackinaw Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The village lies within, but is politically independent of, Mackinaw Township. Both take their name from the nearby Mackinaw River. Mackinaw (sometimes spelled Mackinac) is derived from the Ojibwe word mikinaak meaning "turtle".
Mackinaw was founded in 1827 by George Washington Minier, namesake of Minier, Illinois, and Charles E. Boyer. It was the first county seat of Tazewell County from 1827 to 1831, when it moved to Pekin. The courthouse was built for $125 by Amasa Stout.
Following the 1933 end to prohibition, Mackinaw remained a "dry" community through 2013, when residents voted to allow the sale of alcohol.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mackinaw Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1928Mackinaw 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 Mackinaw Township.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewHABS ILL,90-MACK,1- (sheet 0 of 3) - Pendergast Inn, Market and Monroe Streets, 1933
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mackinaw Township’s page.
The Mackinaw Township post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Mackinaw Township rank for history?
Mackinaw Township is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #268 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 Mackinaw Township?
11% of Mackinaw Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (10), the Library of Congress (1), 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.
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