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History · Macon Township

Macon Township’s post office opened in 1856, and 67% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1921 on.

1856first post office
0on the National Register
67%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Macon Township began

When was Macon Township founded?

1856

The Macon Township post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Macon (1856), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 196170 years
Founding year: the first Macon Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Macon 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 Macon Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Macon Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Macon Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Macon 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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The story so far

Macon Township, in brief

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

Macon Township is one of twenty-five townships in Bureau County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 196 and it contained 93 housing units. Macon Township changed its name from Jefferson Township in June 1850.

Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 208 to 196 (-6%).

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

Timeline

Macon Township, 1856 to 1921

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Macon post office opens
  3. 1860Post officeThe Macon post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1921On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Macon Township on the map, 1921 to 1983

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

Macon Township on the 1921 USGS mapMacon Township on the 1983 USGS map1921Buda 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 Macon Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Macon Township

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

See all →
C
Charles Torrey SimpsonAmerican botanist, malacologist, and conservati… · b. 1846
B
Bertha Marion LahmanAmerican botanist · b. 1872
Warren Crandall GilesAmerican baseball executive · b. 1896
Eva Katherine ClappAmerican writer · b. 1857
D
Darwin TeilhetAmerican writer · b. 1904
France Vinton ScholesAmerican scholar and historian · b. 1897
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Macon, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Burnett
Gone or out of use
Bunker Hill SchoolschoolCarber SchoolschoolDunn SchoolschoolFour Corners SchoolschoolHaley SchoolschoolTadpole SchoolschoolThree Bridges SchoolschoolWalnut Grove Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Macon Township
Bunker HillsMount PleasantWalnut GroveWood Family

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Neponset Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townConcord Township2 historic placesA+Indiantown TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOsceola TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Macon Township’s history

What year was Macon Township founded?

The Macon Township post office opened in 1856, 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.