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B−History
History · Malta Township

Malta Township dates to 1854, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1934 on, and the census since 1880.

1854founded
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Malta Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Malta Township began

When was Malta Township founded?

1854

Malta Township dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 506 in 18802020 census: 1,557172 years

How historic is Malta Township?

B−

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Malta Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Malta Township is more historic than 48% 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 Malta Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1854, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194028.4% of homes (±8.9) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 48%
NewerOlder

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 Malta 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 C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.9 points). Two sources give 1854.

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 Malta 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 writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Malta Township’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Malta Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Malta Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFreight train operations on the Chicago…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Malta Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Malta Township.

Read it all →

Malta was founded in 1855, under the name of Milton. Shortly afterwards, the name was changed to Etna, then Malta after the Galena (a Maltese Surname) Railway station that served the village. The present name is after the island of Malta.

Malta was the site of the first "seedling mile" of concrete pavement for the transcontinental Lincoln Highway in 1914. Seedling miles were built to demonstrate construction techniques and generate support for the highway. The pavement extended from the Malta cemetery at the west edge of town to near the present location of Kishwaukee College.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Malta Township, 1854 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854
    FoundingMalta Township is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1934On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1943In the archiveFreight train operations on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad between Chicago and Cli…
By decade

Malta Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s3 items
Freight train operations on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. The train rushing …1943Freight train operations on the Chicago and Northwest…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Freight train operations on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad between Chicago …1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Freight train op…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Illinois landscape seen from a freight train on the run from Chicago to Clinton, I…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Illinois landsca…
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today6 recent
Winter view down railroad tracks and past grain silos2020Winter view down railroad tracks and past grain silosSmall but stylish Victorian-style home2020Small but stylish Victorian-style homeBuildings near a soybean-processing plant2020Buildings near a soybean-processing plantMartha's Kitchen, a homemade-style restaurant2020Martha's Kitchen, a homemade-style restaurantVintage grain elevator2020Vintage grain elevatorThe public library2020The public library
On the map

Malta Township on the map, 1934 to 1980

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

Malta Township on the 1934 USGS mapMalta Township on the 1971 USGS mapMalta Township on the 1980 USGS map1934De Kalb 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 Malta 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.

Freight train operations on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. The train rushing …
Retake this viewFreight train operations on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. The train rushing …, 1943

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Malta Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Malta Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,164

Between 383 and 1,164 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Malta Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Anderson SchoolschoolDreily SchoolschoolHueber SchoolschoolJohnson SchoolschoolRose Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Malta Township
HudsonMalta

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.

DeKalb Township6 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDement TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSouth Grove Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMilan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Malta Township’s history

What year was Malta Township founded?

In 1854, according to Wikidata. Malta Township’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1880 counted 506 people here.

How does Malta Township rank for history?

Malta Township is more historic than 48% 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 Malta Township?

28% of Malta Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1963.

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).

From the Library of Congress (9), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.