The Payson Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Stone's Prairie (1856), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,743189 years
How historic is Payson Township?
B
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Payson Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Payson Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Payson Township is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Payson Township’s overall grade.
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 Payson Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Payson Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
During the 1860 presidential campaign, the residents of Payson erected a pole on which they hung banners supporting the Democratic candidate, Stephen Douglas, and an effigy of Abraham Lincoln riding a rail. This resulted in two confrontations with the Quincy Wide Awakes, the Republican paramilitary organization, on August 25–26, 1860. During the second confrontation, shots were fired at the Wide Awakes, resulting in injuries. This action was related to the "Stone's Prairie Riot" at nearby Plainville.
and prominent for more than eight years. Chronologicallj' the first of his family to be considered was his uncle. Deacon Albigence Scarborough, who came from AVest Hartford, Connecticut, and in the fall of 1834 bought land in Payson Township which had been entered at the government land office the previous year. In the spring of 1835 Deacon Scarborough laid out the Village of Payson, which he named in honor of a much admired minister in New England. In 1836 Deacon Scarborough and associates undertook the construction of a windmill at Payson, and when it was completed several years later became
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The Payson Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Payson Township rank for history?
Payson Township is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. 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 Payson Township?
20% of Payson Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (2), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2023
2023