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History · New Berlin Township

New Berlin Township’s post office opened in 1864, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1924 on and the census since 1880.

1864first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How New Berlin Township began

When was New Berlin Township founded?

1864

The New Berlin Township post office opened in 1864, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Island Grove (1826) and Bates (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 403 in 18802020 census: 1,609162 years
Founding year: the first New Berlin Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about New Berlin 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 New Berlin Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s New Berlin Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start New Berlin Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New Berlin 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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Places that used to be

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

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Island Grove
1826–1833
Bates
1858–1912
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BatesBrowns CrossingIsland GroveKnappProutySudduth
Gone or out of use
Minch AirportairportPatton SchoolschoolSunnyside Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside New Berlin Township
Saint John's LutheranUnion

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

The story

How New Berlin Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of New Berlin Township.

Read it all →

The village was founded in 1865 by a community of mostly German immigrants. Only a very few buildings from the original village still remain on the town's main thoroughfare, old Illinois State Route 54.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

New Berlin Township, 1826 to 1924

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1826Post officeThe Island Grove post office opens
  3. 1833Post officeThe Island Grove post office closes
  4. 1858Post officeThe Bates post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1912Post officeThe Bates post office closes
  7. 1924On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

New Berlin Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
West Sangamon library 2026-05-282026West Sangamon library 2026-05-28
On the map

New Berlin Township on the map, 1924 to 1983

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

New Berlin Township on the 1924 USGS mapNew Berlin Township on the 1983 USGS map1924Waverly 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 New Berlin Township.

People over time

New Berlin Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,400188019001920194019601980200020201,381

Grew from 403 people in 1880 to 1,381 in 2020, 3 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Island Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMaxwell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLoami TownshipIts storyC

Questions about New Berlin Township’s history

What year was New Berlin Township founded?

The New Berlin Township post office opened in 1864, 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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, 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.