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History · Pine Rock Township

Pine Rock Township’s post office opened in 1863, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

1863first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5
Quick answers

How Pine Rock Township began

When was Pine Rock Township founded?

1863

The Pine Rock Township post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Paines Point (1848), Pine Rock (1863) and Honey Creek (1874), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 947163 years
Founding year: the first Pine Rock Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Pine Rock 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 Pine Rock Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Pine Rock Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pine Rock Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pine Rock 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

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

Paines Point
1848–1903
Pine Rock
1863–1866
Chana
1872–today
Honey Creek
1874–1906
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ChanaHoney CreekPaynes Point
Gone or out of use
Cyclone SchoolschoolSimerick SchoolschoolStonehill Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Pine Rock Township
CooleyEmmanuel LutheranMount PleasantStinsonianWashington Grove

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

The story so far

Pine Rock Township, in brief

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

Pine Rock Township is located in Ogle County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 985 and it contained 413 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1863. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 985 to 947 (-4%).

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

Timeline

Pine Rock Township, 1848 to 1903

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848Post officeThe Paines Point post office opens
  3. 1863Post officeThe Pine Rock post office opens
  4. 1866Post officeThe Pine Rock post office closes
  5. 1872Post officeThe Chana post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903Post officeThe Paines Point 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
Famous people

Famous people close to Pine Rock Township

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

See all →
J
Joan AllenAmerican actress · b. 1956
Carl BarksAmerican cartoonist · b. 1901
A
Akiane KramarikAmerican artist, humanitarian, poet, child prod… · b. 1994
Albert SpaldingAmerican pitcher, manager, and business executi… · b. 1850
Lloyd IngrahamActor, film director · b. 1874
Ralph Waldo TrineAmerican author · b. 1866
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Oregon-Nashua Township5 historic placesA+Marion Township1 historic placeB−Lafayette Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRockvale Township1 historic placeC+

Questions about Pine Rock Township’s history

What year was Pine Rock Township founded?

The Pine Rock Township post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 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.