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Gidonb Scales Mound Franklin StreetPhoto: Gidonb · CC BY 3.0
–Not graded
History · Scales Mound Township

Scales Mound Township dates to 1853, and 56% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1880.

1853founded
1on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Gidonb · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Scales Mound Township began

When was Scales Mound Township founded?

1853

Scales Mound Township dates its founding to 1853 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 311 in 18802020 census: 649173 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1854.The full story ↓

What stands out about Scales Mound 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 Scales Mound Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Scales Mound Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Scales Mound Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Scales Mound 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
The story

How Scales Mound Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Scales Mound Township.

Read it all →

The original town of Scales Mound was located at the base of an erosional remnant similar to Charles Mound, about a mile southwest of the present-day village. In 1830 Samuel Scales purchased the original village site from John Sole and built a tavern at the base of the mound along Sucker Trail, a major east–west corridor. The land that the present-day village of Scales Mound is on was purchased from the U.S. government in 1848 by a man named Dunning. Little is known about Dunning or the use of the land until the 1850s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Scales Mound Township, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 32008Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 3Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 22008Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 2Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 12008Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 1Gidonb Scales Mound Main Street2008Gidonb Scales Mound Main StreetGidonb Scales Mound Franklin Street2008Gidonb Scales Mound Franklin StreetILMap-doton-ScalesMound2005ILMap-doton-ScalesMound
On the map

Scales Mound Township on the map, 1968 to 1984

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

Scales Mound Township on the 1968 USGS mapScales Mound Township on the 1984 USGS map1968Scales Mound East sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Scales Mound Township.

On the National Register

1 listing protects 184 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
184
each building in a district counts

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

People over time

Scales Mound Township, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 436

Between 311 and 436 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Carr SchoolschoolMount Pleasant SchoolschoolMount Zion Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Scales Mound Township
CitzensHoly Trinity

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.

Council Hill Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGuilford TownshipIts storyC−Apple River Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Scales Mound Township’s history

What year was Scales Mound Township founded?

In 1853, according to Wikidata. Scales Mound Township’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1880 counted 311 people here.

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.