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History · Perryton Township

49% of Perryton Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1912 on.

0on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Perryton 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 Perryton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Perryton Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Perryton Township’s homes were built before 1945.On the map since 19125 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1991. Watch Perryton Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Perryton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Perryton 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, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Perrytown
1848–1867
Hamlet
1854–1908
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Gingle CornersHamlet
Gone or out of use
Enon ChurchchurchMercer County FarmlocalePerryton Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Perryton Township
CornsGrayHamlet

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

The story so far

Perryton Township, in brief

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

Perryton Township is located in Mercer County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 474 and it contained 200 housing units. It contains the census-designated place of Hamlet.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 474 to 449 (-5%).

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

Timeline

Perryton Township, 1848 to 1912

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848Post officeThe Perrytown post office opens
  3. 1854Post officeThe Hamlet post office opens
  4. 1867Post officeThe Perrytown post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1908Post officeThe Hamlet post office closes
  7. 1912On 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.
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On the map

Perryton Township on the map, 1912 to 1991

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

Perryton Township on the 1912 USGS mapPerryton Township on the 1944 USGS mapPerryton Township on the 1953 USGS mapPerryton Township on the 1975 USGS mapPerryton Township on the 1991 USGS map1912Milan 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 Perryton Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Perryton Township

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

See all →
Suzy BoggussAmerican musician · b. 1956
D
Doris LeeAmerican painter, printmaker and muralist · b. 1905
Judson Churchill WelliverAmerican speechwriter · b. 1870
Baby Doll JacobsonAmerican baseball player · b. 1890
C
Charles S. WhartonU.S. Representative · b. 1875
H. L. CarnahanAmerican politician (1879–1941); Lieutenant Gov… · b. 1879
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Duncan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPreemption TownshipIts storyBMercer Township4 historic placesAEdgington TownshipIts storyB+

Questions about Perryton Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.