Half of Melrose Township’s homes were built after 1980
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #644 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Melrose Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1925 on and old-book passages.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Melrose Township is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #644 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Melrose 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 Melrose 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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Melrose Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Melrose Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1925Quincy 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 Melrose Township.
The story so far
Melrose Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Melrose Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Melrose Township is one of twenty-two townships in Adams County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 5,748 and it contained 2,375 housing units. The northwestern part of the township has been separated into Quincy Township.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 5,746 in 2010, 5,748 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Melrose Township in 1919
Passages that mention Melrose Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Quincy and Adams County history1919 · page 785Read the page →
Read the text
After his marriage Walter F. Emery entered 168 acres of Government land three miles south of what was then the Town of Quincy, but the tract now is just outside the limits in Melrose Township. On this farm Walter Emery built a double log house, and in many ways improved the land and brought much of it under cultivation. In 1849 he left Quincy to join the throng of gold seekers bound for California and was 214 years in the far West, engaged in mining operations. He went out across the plains, biit returned by way of Panama and the Atlantic coast. He made and saved some little money while
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
Melrose Township, 1825 to 1925
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Melrose Township is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #644 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 Melrose Township?
5% of Melrose Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 Wikidata (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
