The story
Read it all →How Ross Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ross Township.
Ross Township was one of the eight townships created in 1851.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Ross Township
48% of Ross Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1938 on.
0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Ross Township’s history
How historic is Ross Township?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Ross Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ross Township is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ross Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194048.3% of homes (±9.2) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%A+National 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 70%
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 Ross 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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.2 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Ross Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Ross Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ross Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.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 albumOn the map
Ross Township on the map, 1938 to 1964
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ross Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1938Hoopeston sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ross Township.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Ross Township
Nobody well known was born in Ross Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Rossville Junction
Gone or out of use
Bethel SchoolschoolCollege Hill SchoolschoolDale SchoolschoolJames M Adams AirportairportJohannotlocalePleasant Hill SchoolschoolPleasant View SchoolschoolSquankum Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ross Township
BethelMillerPrairie Chapel
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.
Questions about Ross Township’s history
How does Ross Township rank for history?
Ross Township is more historic than 70% 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 Ross Township?
48% of Ross Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1943.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.