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A+History
History · Ottawa Township

Ottawa Township’s post office opened in 1832, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #24 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1870.

1832first post office
6on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ottawa Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ottawa Township began

When was Ottawa Township founded?

1832

The Ottawa Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1853.

First census: 7,736 in 18702020 census: 11,193194 years

How historic is Ottawa Township?

A+

More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Ottawa Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1853.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ottawa Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ottawa Township is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #24 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.

A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ottawa Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1832, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194028.9% of homes (±5.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register6 listings, 457 historic buildings, 408 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 96%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 97%

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ottawa Township’s 408 sits above most of its state (98% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 457 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1853.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Ottawa Township’s past

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

On the map since 18924 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1970. Watch Ottawa Township change.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.Deep rootsA post office since 1832: 194 years of Ottawa Township.Old housesHalf of Ottawa Township’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · On the map

Ottawa Township on the map, 1892 to 1970

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

Ottawa Township on the 1892 USGS mapOttawa Township on the 1915 USGS mapOttawa Township on the 1946 USGS mapOttawa Township on the 1970 USGS map1892Ottawa 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 Ottawa Township.

On the National Register

6 listings protect 457 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
457
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Timeline

Ottawa Township, 1858 to 1892

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858In the archiveThe Lincoln–Douglas debates of 1858 - OTTAWA ILLINOIS-THE GLOVER HOUSE
  3. 1870In the archiveWrought Iron Bridge Co., Canton, Ohio View of wrought iron bridge - - W.J. Morgan & Co. l…
  4. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Ottawa Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ottawa Township.

Read it all →

Ottawa occupies a place on the Illinois River that has long been one end of a portage trail between the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan. Here the river was reliably deep enough for canoes. The North Portage Trail connected the site over land and water to the Chicago River.

Ottawa was the site of the first of the Lincoln–Douglas debates on August 21, 1858. During the Ottawa debate, Stephen A. Douglas, leader of the Democratic Party, openly accused Abraham Lincoln of forming a secret bipartisan group of Congressmen to bring about the abolition of slavery.

ChaptersRadium Cleanup

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Ottawa Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1870s5 items
The Lincoln–Douglas debates of 1858 - OTTAWA ILLINOIS-THE GLOVER HOUSE1858The Lincoln–Douglas debates of 1858 - OTTAWA ILLINOIS…Wrought Iron Bridge Co., Canton, Ohio View of wrought iron bridge - - W.J. Morgan & Co. lith., Cleveland, O1870Wrought Iron Bridge Co., Canton, Ohio View of wrought…Wrought Iron Bridge Co., Canton, Ohio View of wrought iron bridge - - W.J. Morgan & Co. lith., Cleveland, O1870Wrought Iron Bridge Co., Canton, Ohio View of wrought…Atlas of LaSalle Co., and the state of Illinois: to which is added an atlas of the United States, maps of the hemispher…1876Atlas of LaSalle Co., and the state of Illinois: to w…MapAtlas of LaSalle Co., and the state of Illinois: to which is added an atlas of the United States, maps of the hemispher…1876Atlas of LaSalle Co., and the state of Illinois: to w…Map
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.

The Lincoln–Douglas debates of 1858 - OTTAWA ILLINOIS-THE GLOVER HOUSE
Retake this viewThe Lincoln–Douglas debates of 1858 - OTTAWA ILLINOIS-THE GLOVER HOUSE, 1858

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ottawa Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 19,408

Between 7,736 and 19,408 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Buffalo Rock MinemineChautaugua GroundslocaleKenny SchoolschoolLock Number 12damStrawn SchoolschoolTwin Bluffslocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ottawa Township
CalvarySaint Columba

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

Help out

Finish Ottawa 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
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewThe Lincoln–Douglas debates of 1858 - O…: 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.

South Ottawa Township1 historic placeA−Rutland Township2 historic placesA−Wallace TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOttawa7 historic placesA+Dayton TownshipIts storyB−Utica Township2 historic placesA

Questions about Ottawa Township’s history

What year was Ottawa Township founded?

The Ottawa Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1853.

How does Ottawa Township rank for history?

Ottawa Township is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #24 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Ottawa Township?

29% of Ottawa Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1956.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), 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.