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History · Pleasant Valley Township

Pleasant Valley Township’s post office opened in 1842, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1985 on.

1842first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Pleasant Valley Township began

When was Pleasant Valley Township founded?

1842

The Pleasant Valley Township post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Pleasant Valley (1842) and Elmoville (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 215184 years
Founding year: the first Pleasant Valley Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Pleasant Valley 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 Pleasant Valley Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Pleasant Valley Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1842: 184 years of Pleasant Valley Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pleasant Valley Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pleasant Valley 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.

Pleasant Valley
1842–1903
Elmoville
1895–1906
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ElmovillePleasant Valley
Gone or out of use
Deeds SchoolschoolFitzsimmons SchoolschoolGoodmiller QuarrymineLittle Union SchoolschoolMontrose Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Pleasant Valley Township
Plum River Catholic

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

Timeline

Pleasant Valley Township, 1842 to 1985

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1842Post officeThe Pleasant Valley post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe Elmoville post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Post officeThe Pleasant Valley post office closes
  6. 1906Post officeThe Elmoville post office closes
  7. 1985On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Pleasant Valley Township, in brief

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

Pleasant Valley is an unincorporated community in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States.

Its first post office opened in 1842. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 273 to 215 (-21%).

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

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

Pleasant Valley Township on the map in 1985

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pleasant Valley Township.

Pleasant Valley Township on the 1985 USGS map1985Pleasant Valley sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pleasant Valley Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Pleasant Valley Township

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

See all →
E
Edward Alphonso GoldmanAmerican zoologist · b. 1873
Neta Snook SouthernAmerican Pioneer Aviator · b. 1896
Charles N. FowlerAmerican politician · b. 1852
John C. McKenzieAmerican politician · b. 1860
Leo E. AllenAmerican politician · b. 1898
Wayne KingAmerican musician · b. 1901
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Derinda TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBerreman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWoodland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStockton Township1 historic placeB+

Questions about Pleasant Valley Township’s history

What year was Pleasant Valley Township founded?

The Pleasant Valley Township post office opened in 1842, 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 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.