Most of Rosedale Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: maps from 1930 on and old-book passages.
The Rosedale Township post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Rosedale (1875) and Nutwood (1900), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 415151 years
Founding year: the first Rosedale Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Rosedale Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Rosedale
1875–1911
Nutwood
1900–1910
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Democrat SpringNutwoodRosedale
Gone or out of use
Meadow Branch SchoolschoolPleasant Cove SchoolschoolSaint Andrew SchoolschoolTeneriffe Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Rosedale Township
Meadow BranchRosedale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Rosedale Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Rosedale Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Rosedale is an unincorporated community in Jersey County, Illinois, United States. It is located south of Fieldon and is just north of Pere Marquette State Park.
Its first post office opened in 1875. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 456 to 415 (-9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Rosedale Township in 1919
Passages that mention Rosedale Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Jersey County, Illinois1919 · page 492Read the page →
Read the text
Farther west in Rosedale Township, Bryce’s mill and Barnett’s mill were built. These mills supplied the country for twenty years, and then steam grist-mills were erected, the first one by Adams and French in Jerseyville. Later in 1855, AVilliam H. Allen of Grafton erected a large grist-mill. One was erected also at Elsah, and at Otterville, Fieldon, Fidelity, Newbern, and two or three at Jerseyville. The build¬ ing of the large mills at Minneapolis grinding from 3,000 to 5,000 barrels a day, and like large mills at other points, particularly Alton, and St.
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.
Timeline
Rosedale Township, 1875 to 1930
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rosedale Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1930Hardin 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 Rosedale Township.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
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.
