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–Not graded
History · Petty Township

50% of Petty Township’s homes were built before 1940

0on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Petty 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 Petty Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Petty Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Petty Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Petty Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Petty 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

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

Petty's
1850–1867
Chauncey
1873–1953
Island
1888–1903
Petrolia
1914–1924
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ApplegateChaunceyPetrolia
Gone or out of use
Bethany SchoolschoolFyffe SchoolschoolHazledale SchoolschoolIsland SchoolschoolLeech SchoolschoolPetty SchoolschoolPinhook SchoolschoolPleasant Ridge SchoolschoolPleasant View SchoolschoolPrairie SchoolschoolRich Valley SchoolschoolSpring Hill SchoolschoolUnion Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Petty Township
BluffsLeech

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

The story so far

Petty Township, in brief

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

Petty Township is located in Lawrence County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 656 and it contained 285 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 729 to 656 (-10%).

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

Timeline

Petty Township, 1850 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Petty's post office opens
  3. 1867Post officeThe Petty's post office closes
  4. 1873Post officeThe Chauncey post office opens
  5. 1888Post officeThe Island post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903Post officeThe Island post office closes
  8. 1953Post officeThe Chauncey post office closes
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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Famous people

Famous people close to Petty Township

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

See all →
Elaine ShepardBroadway and film actress in the 1930s and 1940s · b. 1913
Terry L. BruceAmerican politician · b. 1944
William W. ArnoldAmerican politician · b. 1877
Edmund SebreeUnited States general · b. 1898
George E. ShipleyAmerican politician · b. 1927
Gilbert L. LawsAmerican politician and Union Army soldier · b. 1838
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Southwest TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChristy TownshipIts storyB−Bond TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHoney Creek TownshipIts storyCGerman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Petty Township’s history

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 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.