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History · Ridgeland Township

48% of Ridgeland Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Ridgeland 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 Ridgeland Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Ridgeland Township’s homes were built before 1950.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ridgeland Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ridgeland Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Ridgeland Township, in brief

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

Ridgeland Township is one of twenty-six townships in Iroquois County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 328 and it contained 164 housing units. Ridgeland Township was formed from Onarga Township on January 29, 1879; the original name was Ridge Township, but the name was changed to Ridgeland Township on an unknown date.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 369 to 328 (-11%).

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

Timeline

Ridgeland Township, 1872 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Ridgeville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1953Post officeThe Ridgeville 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.
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On the map

Ridgeland Township on the map, 1948 to 1986

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

Ridgeland Township on the 1948 USGS mapRidgeland Township on the 1986 USGS map1948Buckley 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 Ridgeland Township.

People over time

Ridgeland Township, census by census

010020030040020002020Peak: 393

Between 328 and 393 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Ridgeland Township

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

See all →
Alice GentleAmerican opera singer · b. 1885
Leslie C. ArendsAmerican politician · b. 1895
F
Frank GriffithAmerican baseball player · b. 1872
S
Shane CultraAmerican politician
Elmer KoestnerAmerican baseball player · b. 1885
Jack CrangleAmerican football player and coach · b. 1899
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Ridgeville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Ridgeville
Gone or out of use
Longview SchoolschoolWillow Grove Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Ridgeland Township
Thawville

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Onarga TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Ridgeland Township’s history

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, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.