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History · Omaha Township

Omaha Township’s post office opened in 1871, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Omaha Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Omaha Township began

When was Omaha Township founded?

1871

The Omaha Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 187 in 18802020 census: 406155 years
Founding year: the first Omaha Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Omaha Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 586 in 1910; 209 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Omaha Township’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · People over time

Omaha Township, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 586

Peaked at 586 in 1910; 209 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Omaha Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Omaha Township.

Read it all →

Omaha was established in 1871 as a stop along the Springfield and Illinois South Eastern Railway. A baggage master working for the railroad, Henry Pearce, named the settlement for Omaha, Nebraska, where he had previously worked as a baggage master. After an initial attempt at incorporation failed in 1875, Omaha successfully incorporated in 1888.

Omaha is home to many strawberry farms and used to hold an annual "Strawberry Day" in May. In Southern Illinois, Omaha is well known for one of the area's largest and most popular furniture stores, "Omaha Furniture," which has been in business since 1932.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Omaha Township, 1905 to 1937

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 586
  4. 1937In the archiveLunchtime for county sawmill workers near Omaha, Illinois
By decade

Omaha Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s7 items
Lunchtime for county sawmill workers near Omaha, Illinois1937Lunchtime for county sawmill workers near Omaha, Illi…Turning the log at the country sawmill near Omaha, Illinois1937Turning the log at the country sawmill near Omaha, Il…Sighting a circular saw blade at country sawmill near Omaha, Illinois1937Sighting a circular saw blade at country sawmill near…Cutting timber into boards at the country sawmill near Omaha, Illinois1937Cutting timber into boards at the country sawmill nea…Bringing logs from the woods to the country sawmill near Omaha, Illinois1937Bringing logs from the woods to the country sawmill n…Setting the fresh log in position to be sawed. Country sawmill near Omaha, Illinois1937Setting the fresh log in position to be sawed. Countr…Logs are brought from the timber tract by horse and wagon and rolled upon the runway to the sawmill at Omaha, Illinois1937Logs are brought from the timber tract by horse and w…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Omaha-post-office-il2018Omaha-post-office-ilOmaha-Washington-Ave-il2018Omaha-Washington-Ave-ilOmaha-Village-Hall-il2018Omaha-Village-Hall-ilOmaha-Route-1-il2018Omaha-Route-1-il
On the map

Omaha Township on the map, 1905 to 1963

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

Omaha Township on the 1905 USGS mapOmaha Township on the 1963 USGS map1905Eldorado 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 Omaha Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Lunchtime for county sawmill workers near Omaha, Illinois
Retake this viewLunchtime for county sawmill workers near Omaha, Illinois, 1937

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Omaha Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Omaha Township
AdkinHazel RidgePalestine Number 2PoplarShain

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Omaha Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLunchtime for county sawmill workers ne…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Indian Creek TownshipIts storyB−Rector TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Fork TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAsbury TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Omaha Township’s history

What year was Omaha Township founded?

The Omaha Township post office opened in 1871, 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (7), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.