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History · Shaws Point Township

Shaws Point Township’s post office opened in 1852, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1925 on.

1852first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Shaws Point Township began

When was Shaws Point Township founded?

1852

The Shaws Point Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Shaws Point (1852), Womac (1888) and Schoper (1920), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 469174 years
Founding year: the first Shaws Point Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Shaws Point 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 Shaws Point Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Shaws Point Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Shaws Point Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Shaws Point 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, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Shaws Point
1852–1871
Atwater
1881–today
Womac
1888–1910
Schoper
1920–1922
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AtwaterSchoperWomac
Gone or out of use
Bethel ChurchchurchCenterview SchoolschoolEmery Landing StripairportPleasant Point SchoolschoolRobley SchoolschoolRural SchoolschoolShaw Point Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Shaws Point Township
Bethel RidgeGray FamilyRural MethodistYowell

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

The story so far

Shaws Point Township, in brief

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

Shaws Point Township (T10N R6W) is located in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 532 and it contained 233 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1852. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 532 to 469 (-12%).

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

Timeline

Shaws Point Township, 1852 to 1925

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Shaws Point post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Shaws Point post office closes
  4. 1881Post officeThe Atwater post office opens
  5. 1888Post officeThe Womac post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1910Post officeThe Womac post office closes
  8. 1925On 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

Shaws Point Township on the map, 1925 to 1982

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

Shaws Point Township on the 1925 USGS mapShaws Point Township on the 1982 USGS map1925Carlinville 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 Shaws Point Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Shaws Point Township

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

See all →
Howard KeelAmerican actor and singer · b. 1919
FerrasAmerican musician · b. 1984
G
Gary HannigAmerican politician · b. 1952
C
Clarence J. GoodnightAmerican arachnologist and annelidologist · b. 1914
H
Harry PattonAmerican baseball player · b. 1884
M
Milt WelchAmerican baseball player · b. 1924
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Zanesville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHoney Point TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCarlinville Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNilwood Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Shaws Point Township’s history

What year was Shaws Point Township founded?

The Shaws Point Township post office opened in 1852, 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.