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History · Scottville Township

Scottville Township’s post office opened in 1850, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1932 on and the census since 1880.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Scottville Township began

When was Scottville Township founded?

1850

The Scottville Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 284 in 18802020 census: 260176 years
Founding year: the first Scottville Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Scottville 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 Scottville Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 364 in 1900; 93 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Scottville Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Scottville 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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People over time

Scottville Township, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 364

Peaked at 364 in 1900; 93 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Scottville Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Scottville Township.

Read it all →

It is believed that a man named Benjamin Stephenson (no relation to Illinois politician Benjamin Stephenson) laid out the town in 1835. However it would not be until 1885 that Scottville was incorporated as a village. A post office was finally opened in that same year, since 2012 the village has no such post office.

Scottville High School served the village from the late 1800s through 1948. That same year Scottville, Palmyra, Modesto, and Hettick formed the Northwestern School District to consolidate their educational efforts. Today, students from Scottville attend Northwestern Jr-Sr High School in Palmyra.

Despite a peak population of 364 in the 1900 census, it has since dwindled to only 93 people in 2020.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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

Scottville Township on the map, 1932 to 1983

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

Scottville Township on the 1932 USGS mapScottville Township on the 1983 USGS map1932Greenfield 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 Scottville Township.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Hettick Point SchoolschoolMount Moriah SchoolschoolMount Zion ChurchchurchNation SchoolschoolOak Hill SchoolschoolPanther Creek SchoolschoolSunny Point SchoolschoolWorkman Schoolschool
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Scottville Township
CemeteryHettick PointHowserPanther CreekRuyleScottville West

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.

Athensville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBarr TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Palmyra TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Scottville Township’s history

What year was Scottville Township founded?

The Scottville Township post office opened in 1850, 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 →
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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 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.