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Seward, IL DowntownPhoto: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5
–Not graded
History · Seward Township

Seward Township’s post office opened in 1889, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1922 on.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5
Quick answers

How Seward Township began

When was Seward Township founded?

1889

The Seward Township post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 839137 years
Founding year: the first Seward Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Seward 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 Seward Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Seward Township’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Seward Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Seward 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 so far

Seward Township, in brief

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

Seward is an unincorporated community in Winnebago County, Illinois, United States, and is located west of Rockford. It is part of the Rockford, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1889. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 917 to 839 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Seward Township, 1845 to 1922

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1845Born hereAndrew Thompson is born here
  3. 1889Post officeThe Seward post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Seward Township, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Seward, IL Seward Township Fire Dept 022007Seward, IL Seward Township Fire Dept 02Seward, IL Seward Township Fire Dept 012007Seward, IL Seward Township Fire Dept 01Seward, IL Seward School2007Seward, IL Seward SchoolSeward, IL Post Office2007Seward, IL Post OfficeSeward, IL Old Building2007Seward, IL Old BuildingSeward, IL Downtown2007Seward, IL Downtown
On the map

Seward Township on the map, 1922 to 1983

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

Seward Township on the 1922 USGS mapSeward Township on the 1983 USGS map1922Oregon 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 Seward Township.

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
Seward
Gone or out of use
Asches QuarrymineBeuth SchoolschoolBurch SchoolschoolFairview SchoolschoolHamilton SchoolschoolHoisington SchoolschoolSheldon SchoolschoolTwelvemile Grove ChurchchurchWright Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Seward Township
Twelve Mile Grove

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.

Pecatonica Township1 historic placeB+Winnebago TownshipIts storyBLeaf River TownshipIts storyA−

Questions about Seward Township’s history

What year was Seward Township founded?

The Seward Township post office opened in 1889, 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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.