Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Shirland 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 · Shirland Township

Shirland Township’s post office opened in 1857, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1918 on.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Shirland Township began

When was Shirland Township founded?

1857

The Shirland Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 963169 years
Founding year: the first Shirland Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Shirland 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 Shirland Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19183 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1971. Watch Shirland Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Shirland Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Shirland 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
On the map

Shirland Township on the map, 1918 to 1971

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

Shirland Township on the 1918 USGS mapShirland Township on the 1938 USGS mapShirland Township on the 1971 USGS map1918Rockford 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 Shirland Township.

The story

How Shirland Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Shirland Township.

Read it all →

An earlier name for the area was Kepotah. The name was changed when the Shirland post office was established August 15, 1857.

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.
Add from your album
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
Shirland
Gone or out of use
Bennett SchoolschoolKoch AirportairportSweet SchoolschoolWilson Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Shirland Township
Shirland

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.

Laona Township1 historic placeBHarrison Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRockton Township3 historic placesA

Questions about Shirland Township’s history

What year was Shirland Township founded?

The Shirland Township post office opened in 1857, 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 Wikipedia, 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.