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History · Mayfield Township

10% of Mayfield Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: old-book passages.

0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Mayfield 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 Mayfield Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Mayfield Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mayfield Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

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

Brush Point
1854–1856
Clare
1890–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ClareFive PointsWilkinson
Gone or out of use
Alms SchoolschoolBrush Point SchoolschoolCenter SchoolschoolClarke SchoolschoolFive Points SchoolschoolMarx V Stott AirportairportPleasant Hill SchoolschoolVandeburg Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mayfield Township
Ault RoadMayfield

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

The story so far

Mayfield Township, in brief

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

Mayfield Township is one of nineteen townships in DeKalb County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 872 and it contained 409 housing units. Mayfield Township was renamed from Liberty Township on November 20, 1850.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 929 to 872 (-6%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Mayfield Township in 1885

Passages that mention Mayfield Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

They settled in Mayfield Township about 1845, and were among the pioneer element of the county of De Kalb. They were residents of Mayfield Township from the time of their removal hither until their deaths.
Portrait and biographical album of DeKalb County, Illinois1885Read the page →
Read the text

They settled in Mayfield Township about 1845, and were among the pioneer element of the county of De Kalb. They were residents of Mayfield Township from the time of their removal hither until their deaths.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Mayfield Township, 1854 to 1890

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854Post officeThe Brush Point post office opens
  3. 1856Post officeThe Brush Point post office closes
  4. 1890Post officeThe Clare post office opens
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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Famous people

Famous people close to Mayfield Township

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

See all →
Albert J. HopkinsAmerican politician · b. 1846
C
Charles Williams NashAmerican businessman · b. 1864
F
Frank RinehartAmerican photographer · b. 1861
Knute HillAmerican politician · b. 1876
Mark Walrod HarringtonAmerican astronomer and meteorologist · b. 1848
Mark JohnstonAmerican football player · b. 1938
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Sycamore Township6 historic placesASouth Grove Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSycamore5 historic placesADeKalb Township6 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mayfield Township’s history

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 the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.