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History · St. Albans Township

St. Albans Township’s post office opened in 1839, and 59% of its homes were built before 1940

1839first post office
0on the National Register
59%homes built before 1940
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Photo: User:Visviva · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How St. Albans Township began

When was St. Albans Township founded?

1839

The St. Albans Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1849. Two smaller post offices, Saint Albans (1839) and Stilwell (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 292187 years
Founding year: the first St. Albans Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1849.

What stands out about St. Albans 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 St. Albans Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of St. Albans Township’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s St. Albans Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1839: 187 years of St. Albans Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start St. Albans Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. Albans 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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The story so far

St. Albans Township, in brief

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

Saint Albans Township is one of twenty-four townships in Hancock County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 292 and it contained 148 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1839. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 377 to 292 (-23%).

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

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.

Saint Albans
1839–1871
Stilwell
1871–1962
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Stillwell
Gone or out of use
Butler SchoolschoolClair Landing StripairportGreen Grove SchoolschoolKnott SchoolschoolPleasant Hill SchoolschoolStillwell Post Officepost officeWebster SchoolschoolWoodville Schoolschool
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside St. Albans Township
Bean FamilyBreneman FarmCookKeslerKittelMorganWebsterWest Point

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

Timeline

St. Albans Township, 1839 to 1962

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839Post officeThe Saint Albans post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Saint Albans post office closes
  4. 1871Post officeThe Stilwell post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1962Post officeThe Stilwell post office closes
By decade

St. Albans Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
St Albans Township building 2026-08-302026St Albans Township building 2026-08-30
Famous people

Famous people close to St. Albans Township

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

See all →
Virginia CherrillAmerican actress · b. 1908
A
Alden W. ClausenAmerican businessman, President of the World Ba… · b. 1923
Benjamin F. MarshAmerican politician · b. 1839
Judy KoehlerAmerican politician · b. 1941
Rip WilliamsAmerican baseball player · b. 1882
George ClarkAmerican football coach · b. 1894
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Walker TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBear Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChili TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKeene TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLima TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about St. Albans Township’s history

What year was St. Albans Township founded?

The St. Albans Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1849.

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 (1), 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.