Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Prairie Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: maps from 1947 on and old-book passages.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Prairie Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Prairie Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Prairie Township is one of fifteen townships in Edgar County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 222 and it contained 107 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 273 to 222 (-19%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Prairie Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The first school taught in Prairie Township was by Mrs. Nancy Jones, the first wife of Richard Jones, one of the first settlers of the town. She was said to be a most estimable lady, and taught this school in 1830, in her own house, long before there were any schoolhouses built in this section of the county. They then lived where the town of Scotland now stands. The next school taught in the town was several years later, in the west part of the township, and was by a man of the name of Haines. This was the first school in this section, and was patronized by all the people living along the creek, both in Prairie and Ross
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first school taught in Prairie Township was by Mrs. Nancy Jones, the first wife of Richard Jones, one of the first settlers of the town. She was said to be a most estimable lady, and taught this school in 1830, in her own house, long before there were any schoolhouses built in this section of the county. They then lived where the town of Scotland now stands. The next school taught in the town was several years later, in the west part of the township, and was by a man of the name of Haines. This was the first school in this section, and was patronized by all the people living along the creek, both in Prairie and Ross
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the north line of the county is reached, the regular Congressional townships are completed at the line of the queer little corner extending down in Prairie Township, while it takes another tier of sections to complete them on the west side. Hence the north line of the county in the center of Prairie Township (at the little corner) is the north line of Town 16 north, Range 11 west, while the north line of the county is the north line of Town 16 north, Range 12 west. But why the little neck in the extreme northeast corner of Prairie Township was kept to Edgar County, or why the north line of the county was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the north line of the county is reached, the regular Congressional townships are completed at the line of the queer little corner extending down in Prairie Township, while it takes another tier of sections to complete them on the west side. Hence the north line of the county in the center of Prairie Township (at the little corner) is the north line of Town 16 north, Range 11 west, while the north line of the county is the north line of Town 16 north, Range 12 west. But why the little neck in the extreme northeast corner of Prairie Township was kept to Edgar County, or why the north line of the county was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Prairie Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Prairie Township.
Nobody well known was born in Prairie Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
