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History · Princeton Township

Princeton Township’s post office opened in 1833, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

9 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1860.

1833first post office
9on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Princeton Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Princeton Township began

When was Princeton Township founded?

1833

The Princeton Township post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,473 in 18602020 census: 9,223193 years
Founding year: the first Princeton Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Princeton Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 18935 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1979. Watch Princeton Township change.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1870–1915.Landmarks on the Register9 places on the National Register.Deep rootsA post office since 1833: 193 years of Princeton Township.
★ What stands out · On the map

Princeton Township on the map, 1893 to 1979

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

Princeton Township on the 1893 USGS mapPrinceton Township on the 1909 USGS mapPrinceton Township on the 1911 USGS mapPrinceton Township on the 1966 USGS mapPrinceton Township on the 1979 USGS map1893Hennepin 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 Princeton Township.

By decade

Princeton Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1910s12 items
Bird's eye view of the city of Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois 18701870Bird's eye view of the city of Princeton, Bureau Coun…Owen Lovejoy Homestead. 1905c. 1905Owen Lovejoy Homestead. 1905Princeton, Ill. Eng. Luth. [English Lutheran] Church1908Princeton, Ill. Eng. Luth. [English Lutheran] ChurchHigh school1909High schoolFirst Baptist Church1912First Baptist ChurchFirst Baptist Church1912First Baptist ChurchFirst Baptist Church1912First Baptist ChurchThe Matson Public Library1913The Matson Public LibraryThe Matson Public Library1913The Matson Public LibraryThe Matson Public Library1913The Matson Public LibraryThe Matson Public Library1913The Matson Public Library109 West Park Ave., Princeton, IL - c. 1915c. 1915109 West Park Ave., Princeton, IL - c. 1915
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Princeton-IL-mainstreet42006Princeton-IL-mainstreet4Princeton-IL-mainstreet22006Princeton-IL-mainstreet2Princeton-IL-mainstreet12006Princeton-IL-mainstreet1
On the National Register

9 listings protect 100 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
9
National Historic Landmark
1
none yet
historic buildings protected
100
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Greenwood Cottage
Greenwood Cottage, built 1852
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Gothic Revival1
Greenwood CottageGothic Revival · Built 1852

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

The story

How Princeton Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Princeton Township.

Read it all →

Bureau County was a New England settlement. The founders of Princeton consisted entirely of settlers from New England. These people were "Yankees," descended from the English Puritans who settled New England in the 1600s. They were part of a wave of New England farmers who headed west into what was then the wilds of the Northwest Territory during the early 1800s. Most of them arrived as a result of the completion of the Erie Canal. When they arrived in what is now Bureau County there was nothing but a virgin forest and wild prairie; the New Englanders laid out farms, constructed roads, erected government buildings and established post routes. They brought with them many of their Yankee New England values, such as a passion for education, fueling the establishment of many schools, as well as staunch support for abolitionism. They were mostly members of the Congregationalist Church, thoug…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Princeton Township, 1852 to 1912

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852BuiltGreenwood Cottage is built
  3. 1870In the archiveBird's eye view of the city of Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois 1870
  4. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905In the archiveOwen Lovejoy Homestead. 1905
  7. 1912In the archiveFirst Baptist Church
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bird's eye view of the city of Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois 1870
Retake this viewBird's eye view of the city of Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois 1870, 1870

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Princeton Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Princeton Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001900195020007,832

Grew from 2,473 people in 1860 to 7,832 in 2020, 3 times over.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Princeton Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Piper AirportairportSister Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Princeton Township
Jenkins-GreenWoodlawn - Stoner

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Princeton Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBird's eye view of the city of Princeto…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Wyanet TownshipIts storyB−Arispie Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSelby TownshipIts storyA−Dover Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPrinceton8 historic placesA

Questions about Princeton Township’s history

What year was Princeton Township founded?

The Princeton Township post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Princeton Township?

9 listings: 1 building, among them the Greenwood Cottage (listed 1983, the first). 100 historic buildings in all.

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (9), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.