Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Sciota Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Sciota Township

Sciota Township’s post office opened in 1869, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1916 on.

1869first post office
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Sciota Township began

When was Sciota Township founded?

1869

The Sciota Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Muddy Lane (1837) and Burnsville (1847), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 469157 years
Founding year: the first Sciota Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Sciota 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 Sciota Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Sciota Township.Old housesHalf of Sciota Township’s homes were built before 1949.On the map since 19163 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1998. Watch Sciota Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sciota Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sciota 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 and places now gone

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Muddy Lane
1837–1854
Burnsville
1847–1867
18301930today
Gone or out of use
Burnsville SchoolschoolCenter SchoolschoolFranklin SchoolschoolFrog Pond SchoolschoolHainline SchoolschoolLombard SchoolschoolMuddy Lane SchoolschoolPleasant Gale United Brethren ChurchchurchPresbyterian SchoolschoolWillow Grove Schoolschool

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

The story so far

Sciota Township, in brief

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

Sciota Township is located in McDonough County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 539 and it contained 248 housing units. The village of Sciota is located in Sciota Township.

Its first post office opened in 1869. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 539 to 469 (-13%).

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

Timeline

Sciota Township, 1837 to 1916

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Muddy Lane post office opens
  3. 1847Post officeThe Burnsville post office opens
  4. 1854Post officeThe Muddy Lane post office closes
  5. 1867Post officeThe Burnsville post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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
On the map

Sciota Township on the map, 1916 to 1998

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

Sciota Township on the 1916 USGS mapSciota Township on the 1974 USGS mapSciota Township on the 1998 USGS map1916Good Hope 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 Sciota Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Sciota Township

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

See all →
Elizabeth MagieAmerican board game designer · b. 1866
Marcus DunstanAmerican film director and screenwriter · b. 1975
Al SearsAmerican jazz tenor saxophonist · b. 1910
Emma Smith DeVoeAmerican suffragette · b. 1848
H
Helen NielsenAmerican author and script writer · b. 1918
Edward Thomas NoonanAmerican politician · b. 1861
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Walnut Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEmmet TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPoint Pleasant TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBlandinsville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sciota Township’s history

What year was Sciota Township founded?

The Sciota Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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, 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.