The story
Read it all →How Patoka Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Patoka Township.
The village was named after a local Native American chieftain.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Patoka Township
Patoka Township’s post office opened in 1854, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940
1854first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Patoka Township began
When was Patoka Township founded?
1854
The Patoka Township post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 958172 years
Founding year: the first Patoka Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Patoka Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Patoka Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Patoka Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.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.
Add from your albumPlaces that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Gone or out of use
Independence SchoolschoolLewis SchoolschoolPatoka East Oil FieldoilfieldPatoka Oil FieldoilfieldRichview SchoolschoolWhite Haven Schoolschool
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Patoka Township
CemeteryCruseFinchHoltMeadorThorpTillman
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.
Kaskaskia TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCarrigan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFoster TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPope TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Patoka Township’s history
What year was Patoka Township founded?
The Patoka Township post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.