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BHistory
History · Preemption Township

Preemption Township’s post office opened in 1843, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1843first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: formulanone from Huntsville, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Preemption Township began

When was Preemption Township founded?

1843

The Preemption Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Farlow's Grove (1836), Cole Dale (1873) and Boden (1902), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,687183 years

How historic is Preemption Township?

B

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Preemption Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Preemption Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Preemption Township is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Preemption Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1843, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194015.8% of homes (±4.8) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 58%
NewerOlder

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Preemption Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Preemption 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 Preemption Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Preemption Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1843: 183 years of Preemption Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Preemption Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Preemption 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.

Farlow's Grove
1836–1858
Preemption
1843–today
Cole Dale
1873–1877
Boden
1902–1904
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BodenOrangemans HallPreemption
Gone or out of use
Coal Dale SchoolschoolFairview SchoolschoolGilchrist MinemineSaint Joseph Churchchurch
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Preemption Township
Farlows GrovePreemptionSaint Joseph's

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

Timeline

Preemption Township, 1836 to 1877

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1836Post officeThe Farlow's Grove post office opens
  3. 1843Post officeThe Preemption post office opens
  4. 1858Post officeThe Farlow's Grove post office closes
  5. 1873Post officeThe Cole Dale post office opens
  6. 1877Post officeThe Cole Dale post office closes
The story so far

Preemption Township, in brief

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

Preemption is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Preemption Township, Mercer County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 254. Preemption is 4 miles (6 km) west of Sherrard. Roy James Carver (1909-1981), American philanthropist and businessman, was born in Preemption.

Its first post office opened in 1843. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,783 to 1,687 (-5%).

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
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Perryton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBowling TownshipIts storyC−Greene TownshipIts storyB−Richland Grove Township1 historic placeA−Rural TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Preemption Township’s history

What year was Preemption Township founded?

The Preemption Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Preemption Township rank for history?

Preemption Township is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Preemption Township?

16% of Preemption Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1968.

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).

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.