St Annes Catholic Church St Annes Illinois

Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 3.0

History · St. Anne Township

St. Anne Township dates to 1851, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1922 on and the census since 1880.

1851founded

0on the National Register

30%homes built before 1940

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Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 3.0

Quick answers

How St. Anne Township began

When was St. Anne Township founded?

1851

St. Anne Township dates its founding to 1851 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 412 in 18802020 census: 2,030175 years

How historic is St. Anne Township?

B⁻

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1854.

History grade

What drives St. Anne Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Anne Township is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. Anne Township’s overall grade.

Founding era1851, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 194029.6% of homes (±6.2) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%A⁻National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 49%

NewerOlder

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so St. Anne Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points). Two sources give 1851.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about St. Anne 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. Anne Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19223 editions of the USGS map, 1922 to 1973. Watch St. Anne Township change.Old housesHalf of St. Anne Township’s homes were built before 1964.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start St. Anne Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. Anne 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

St. Anne Township on the map, 1922 to 1973

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

1922Momence 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 St. Anne Township.

The story so far

St. Anne Township, in brief

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

St. Anne (sometimes spelled Saint Anne) is a village in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,161 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Kankakee–Bourbonnais–Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was founded in 1851 by Charles Chiniquy, a French-Canadian Catholic priest and law client of the 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, who was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1856. He later converted to Protestant Christianity, becoming a Presbyterian Evangelical minister and a well-known temperance activist in Canada and the United States.

St. Anne Township was established in 1851. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,191 to 2,030 (-7%).

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

Timeline

St. Anne Township, 1851 to 1936

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

19th century
1851
FoundingSt. Anne Township is established
1893Post officeThe Wichert post office opens
20th century
1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1936Post officeThe Wichert post office closes

By decade

St. Anne Township, decade by decade

Today6 recent

2009St Anne Church (1872) P1030299

2009Nave P1030308 St Annes

2009Nave P1030301 St Annes

2009Main Door P1030316

2009Interior P1030309 St Annes

2009Belfrey P1030315

People over time

St. Anne Township, census by census

Between 412 and 1,421 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Anne Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Wichert, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map

CollinsWichert

Gone or out of use

Giasson SchoolschoolHanen SchoolschoolKoster SchoolschoolWingerter Schoolschool

5cemeteries and burying grounds inside St. Anne Township

ConcordiaOakwoodOld BaptistSaint Anne CatholicSaint Anne Township

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.

Pembroke TownshipIts storyC⁻Aroma TownshipIts storyC Beaverville Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Ganeer Township1 historic placeA Papineau TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about St. Anne Township’s history

What year was St. Anne Township founded?

In 1851, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. St. Anne Township’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1880 counted 412 people here.

How does St. Anne Township rank for history?

St. Anne Township is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in St. Anne Township?

30% of St. Anne Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1964.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.

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