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–Not graded
History · Richwood Township

29% of Richwood Township’s homes were built before 1940

0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Richwood 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 Richwood Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Richwood Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Richwood Township’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Richwood Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Richwood 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.

Clendenen
1880–1880
Spankey
1891–1904
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ReardonReddishSpankey
Gone or out of use
Gunterman SchoolschoolLone Star SchoolschoolMcKinley SchoolschoolPleasant Hill SchoolschoolReddish SchoolschoolSievers Quarrymine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Richwood Township
GuntermanReddishReddish Dunham

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

The story so far

Richwood Township, in brief

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

Richwood Township is one of eleven townships in Jersey County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 526 and it contained 273 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 653 to 526 (-19%).

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

Timeline

Richwood Township, 1880 to 1904

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Clendenen post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Clendenen post office closes
  4. 1891Post officeThe Spankey post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1904Post officeThe Spankey 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 Richwood Township

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

See all →
Karen AllenAmerican actress · b. 1951
Marcus RenoUnion Army general · b. 1834
Clarence Andrew CannonAmerican politician · b. 1879
A
Arthur Scott KingAmerican astrophysicist · b. 1876
Henry Thomas RaineyAmerican politician · b. 1860
Hugh W. CrossAmerican politician, lawyer, farmer, and busine… · b. 1896
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Woodville Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEnglish TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRosedale TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Richwood Township’s history

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). 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.