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History · Meridian Township

Half of Meridian Township’s homes were built after 1975

Most of Meridian Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1914 on.

0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Meridian 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 Meridian Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19143 editions of the USGS map, 1914 to 1969. Watch Meridian Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Meridian Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Meridian 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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On the map

Meridian Township on the map, 1914 to 1969

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

Meridian Township on the 1914 USGS mapMeridian Township on the 1935 USGS mapMeridian Township on the 1969 USGS map1914Centralia 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 Meridian Township.

The story so far

Meridian Township, in brief

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

Meridian Township is one of fifteen townships in Clinton County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 471 and it contained 237 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 547 to 471 (-14%).

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

Timeline

Meridian Township, 1874 to 1914

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Lost Creek post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Lost Creek post office closes
  4. 1884Post officeThe Shattuc post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1914On 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.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Meridian Township

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

See all →
Roland BurrisAmerican politician and attorney · b. 1937
James BradyWhite House Press Secretary under Ronald Reagan · b. 1940
David BlackwellAmerican mathematician · b. 1919
Barbara JohnsonAmerican engineer · b. 1925
D
Dwight EddlemanAmerican basketball player and high jumper · b. 1922
D
Dick GarrettAmerican basketball player · b. 1947
Places that used to be

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

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

Lost Creek
1874–1884
Shattuc
1884–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FerrinShattuc
Gone or out of use
Allburger SchoolschoolBowman SchoolschoolFlaherty SchoolschoolLake SchoolschoolRussell SchoolschoolShattuc Oil FieldoilfieldSunnyside Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Meridian Township
Bethlehem Lutheran

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.

Clement TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrookside TownshipIts storyCSandoval TownshipIts storyCEast Fork TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Meridian 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 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.