Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Smallwood 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 · Smallwood Township

Smallwood Township dates to 1859, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

1859founded
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Smallwood Township began

When was Smallwood Township founded?

1859

Smallwood Township dates its founding to 1859 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1882.

2020 census: 413167 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1882.

What stands out about Smallwood 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 Smallwood Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Smallwood Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Smallwood Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Smallwood 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

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

Bogota
1882–1974
Shamrock
1900–1904
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BogotaShamrock
Gone or out of use
Amity SchoolschoolBlair SchoolschoolBrown SchoolschoolBuck Grove SchoolschoolCalvin SchoolschoolCenter SchoolschoolHappy Hollow SchoolschoolLong Branch SchoolschoolPleasant Ridge SchoolschoolWakefield Schoolschool
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Smallwood Township
CumminsHankinsHoneyLancasterPleasant RidgeTateWoods

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

The story so far

Smallwood Township, in brief

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

Smallwood Township is one of eleven townships in Jasper County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 413 and it contained 174 housing units.

Smallwood Township was established in 1859. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 411 in 2010, 413 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Smallwood Township, 1859 to 1974

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1859
    FoundingSmallwood Township is established
  3. 1882Post officeThe Bogota post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Shamrock post office opens
  6. 1904Post officeThe Shamrock post office closes
  7. 1974Post officeThe Bogota post office closes
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
Famous people

Famous people close to Smallwood Township

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

See all →
Burl IvesAmerican musician · b. 1909
Elaine ShepardBroadway and film actress in the 1930s and 1940s · b. 1913
Terry L. BruceAmerican politician · b. 1944
Edmund SebreeUnited States general · b. 1898
Edwin B. BrooksAmerican politician · b. 1868
George E. ShipleyAmerican politician · b. 1927
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

South Muddy TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWade Township1 historic placeBFox TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDenver TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Smallwood Township’s history

What year was Smallwood Township founded?

In 1859, according to Wikidata. Smallwood Township’s post office opened in 1882.

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 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.