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History · Munson Township

Munson Township’s post office opened in 1857, and 69% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1934 on and the census since 2000.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
69%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Munson Township began

When was Munson Township founded?

1857

The Munson Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Munson (1857), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 514 in 20002020 census: 385169 years
Founding year: the first Munson Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Munson 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 Munson Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Munson Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Munson Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Munson 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
The story so far

Munson Township, in brief

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

Munson Township is one of twenty-four townships in Henry County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 385 and it contained 127 housing units. Munson changed its name from Centre township on April 13, 1857.

Its first post office opened in 1857. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 400 to 385 (-4%).

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

Timeline

Munson Township, 1857 to 1934

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Munson post office opens
  3. 1865Post officeThe Munson post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1934On 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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On the map

Munson Township on the map, 1934 to 1991

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

Munson Township on the 1934 USGS mapMunson Township on the 1953 USGS mapMunson Township on the 1975 USGS mapMunson Township on the 1991 USGS map1934Geneseo 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 Munson Township.

People over time

Munson Township, census by census

010020030040050020002020Peak: 514

Between 385 and 514 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Munson Township

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

See all →
Agnes Meyer DriscollAmerican cryptographer · b. 1889
James Floyd SmithAmerican aviator · b. 1884
B
Barry PearsonAmerican football player · b. 1950
John Taylor HamiltonMember of the U.S. House of Representatives · b. 1843
Sue RezinAmerican politician · b. 1963
T
Todd SiebenAmerican politician · b. 1945
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Ayers SchoolschoolDublin SchoolschoolLiken SchoolschoolPleasant Hill SchoolschoolSpring Creek MinemineStowe SchoolschoolVale Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Munson Township
GreenleeMunson

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.

Cornwall TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOsco TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCambridge Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGeneseo Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Munson Township’s history

What year was Munson Township founded?

The Munson Township post office opened in 1857, 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 →
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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, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.