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C−History
History · Pembroke Township

Pembroke Township dates to 1877

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Pembroke Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: maps from 1922 on and the census since 2000.

1877founded
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Pembroke Township began

When was Pembroke Township founded?

1877

Pembroke Township dates its founding to 1877 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 2000.

First census: 2,786 in 20002020 census: 1,843149 years

How historic is Pembroke Township?

C−

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1878.
History grade

What drives Pembroke Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pembroke Township is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pembroke Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1877, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.1% of homes (±4.4) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 21%
NewerOlder

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 Pembroke 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 still be C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 points). Two sources give 1877.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Pembroke 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 Pembroke Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Pembroke Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19223 editions of the USGS map, 1922 to 1973. Watch Pembroke Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pembroke Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pembroke Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
LeesvilleSaint Anne WoodsTallmadge
Gone or out of use
Mathers SchoolschoolNorth Hopkins SchoolschoolPembrokelocaleWhittemore Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Pembroke Township on the map, 1922 to 1973

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

Pembroke Township on the 1922 USGS mapPembroke Township on the 1963 USGS mapPembroke Township on the 1973 USGS map1922Momence 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 Pembroke Township.

The story so far

Pembroke Township, in brief

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

Pembroke Township is one of seventeen townships in Kankakee County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,843 and it contained 936 housing units. Pembroke Township was formed from parts of Momence township on February 17, 1877. From its beginning through today, Pembroke Township was a site of community for Black farmers.

Pembroke Township was established in 1877. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,140 to 1,843 (-14%).

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

Timeline

Pembroke Township, 1877 to 1922

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877
    FoundingPembroke Township is established
  3. 1878Post officeThe Pembroke post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Pembroke post office closes
  6. 1922On 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
People over time

Pembroke Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00020002020Peak: 2,786

Between 1,843 and 2,786 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Pembroke Township

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

See all →
Sam RiceAmerican baseball player · b. 1890
R
Richard L. AlexanderAmerican boxer · b. 1914
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

St. Anne TownshipIts storyB−Beaverville Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGaneer Township1 historic placeA

Questions about Pembroke Township’s history

What year was Pembroke Township founded?

In 1877, according to Wikidata. Pembroke Township’s post office opened in 1878, and the census of 2000 counted 2,786 people here.

How does Pembroke Township rank for history?

Pembroke Township is more historic than 21% 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 Pembroke Township?

4% of Pembroke Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1977.

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.