Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Philadelphia Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Philadelphia Township

Philadelphia Township’s post office opened in 1882, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Andrew Cunningham Farm. Below: maps from 1932 on.

1882first post office
1on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Philadelphia Township began

When was Philadelphia Township founded?

1882

The Philadelphia Township post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Lancaster (1837) and Philadelphia (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 208144 years
Founding year: the first Philadelphia Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Philadelphia Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Philadelphia Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Philadelphia 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.

Lancaster
1837–1882
Philadelphia
1882–1961
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BurlingameOld PrincetonPhiladelphia
Gone or out of use
Bailey SchoolschoolCentenary ChurchchurchEckman ChapelchurchGarner ChapelchurchGeorge Washington SchoolschoolHarmony SchoolschoolPanther Grove SchoolschoolSugar Grove SchoolschoolWalnut Grove Schoolschool
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Philadelphia Township
BeardBlackCentenaryGarner ChapelHardingHopkinsJohn RobertsonMcDonaldWilliams

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

The story so far

Philadelphia Township, in brief

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

Philadelphia is an unincorporated community in Cass County, Illinois, United States. Philadelphia is located on Illinois Route 125, southeast of Virginia. Vernon Huber, the 36th Governor of American Samoa, was born in Philadelphia. The community was named for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 221 to 208 (-6%).

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

Timeline

Philadelphia Township, 1837 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Lancaster post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Lancaster post office closes
  4. 1882Post officeThe Philadelphia post office opens
  5. 1899Born hereVernon Huber is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1961Post officeThe Philadelphia 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Philadelphia Township on the map, 1932 to 1983

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

Philadelphia Township on the 1932 USGS mapPhiladelphia Township on the 1983 USGS map1932Virginia 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 Philadelphia Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Philadelphia Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Andrew Cunningham Farm
Andrew Cunningham Farm
Buildings
Andrew Cunningham FarmBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Panther Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAshland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townVirginia TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Philadelphia Township’s history

What year was Philadelphia Township founded?

The Philadelphia Township post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Philadelphia Township?

One place: the Andrew Cunningham Farm (listed 1975).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.