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History · Okaw Township

30% of Okaw Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1986 on.

0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Okaw 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 Okaw Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Okaw Township’s collection

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

Okaw Township, in brief

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

Okaw Township is located in Shelby County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 927 and it contained 498 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 927 to 871 (-6%).

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

Timeline

Okaw Township, 1892 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Duvall post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Duvall post office closes
  5. 1986On 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.

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On the map

Okaw Township on the map in 1986

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Okaw Township.

Okaw Township on the 1986 USGS map1986Effingham sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Okaw Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Okaw Township

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

See all →
Wesley Livsey JonesAmerican politician · b. 1863
Jesse M. DonaldsonAmerican politician · b. 1885
Homer W. HallAmerican politician · b. 1870
Hap HadleyAmerican illustrator · b. 1895
Robert Marshall RootAmerican artist · b. 1863
J
John E. CribbetLaw professor and chancellor of the University … · b. 1918
Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
DuvallRennerville
Gone or out of use
Bethel SchoolschoolBoone SchoolschoolDugout SchoolschoolEureka SchoolschoolMahoney SchoolschoolOkaw Center ChurchchurchTurney Schoolschool
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Okaw Township
BarkerBethelCaldwellClaridgeMahoneyMoyerRoseShelbySmith

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.

Shelbyville Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWindsor TownshipIts storyCRidge Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTodds Point TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townShelbyville3 historic placesA+

Questions about Okaw 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.