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History · Mount Hope Township

Mount Hope Township’s post office opened in 1848, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1951 on.

1848first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Mount Hope Township began

When was Mount Hope Township founded?

1848

The Mount Hope Township post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mount Hope (1848), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 969178 years
Founding year: the first Mount Hope Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Mount Hope 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 Mount Hope Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1848: 178 years of Mount Hope Township.Old housesHalf of Mount Hope Township’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mount Hope Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mount Hope 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
Timeline

Mount Hope Township, 1848 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848Post officeThe Mount Hope post office opens
  3. 1857Post officeThe Mount Hope post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Mount Hope Township, in brief

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

Mount Hope Township is located in McLean County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,103 and it contained 455 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1848. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,103 to 969 (-12%).

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

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

Mount Hope Township on the map, 1951 to 1981

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

Mount Hope Township on the 1951 USGS mapMount Hope Township on the 1981 USGS map1951McLean 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 Mount Hope Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Mount Hope Township

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

See all →
Brenda ChapmanAmerican animator, storyboard artist, and direc… · b. 1962
C
Carl Shipp MarvelAmerican chemist · b. 1894
Thomas W. EwingAmerican politician · b. 1935
D
Duncan McArthur FunkAmerican politician · b. 1832
G
George W. FunkAmerican politician · b. 1827
L
Lee DunhamAmerican baseball player · b. 1902
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Farm Aerial Service Incorporated Airportairport
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mount Hope Township
KampfLongsworthMcLeanOld Mount Hope

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.

Hittle TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAtlanta Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEminence TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFunks Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAllin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mount Hope Township’s history

What year was Mount Hope Township founded?

The Mount Hope Township post office opened in 1848, 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 →
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). 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.