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History · Talkington Township

Half of Talkington Township’s homes were built after 1979

Most of Talkington Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1924 on and the census since 1870.

0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
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Photo: User:Visviva · CC BY-SA 4.0

What stands out about Talkington 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 Talkington Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19243 editions of the USGS map, 1924 to 1998. Watch Talkington Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Talkington Township’s collection

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

Talkington Township on the map, 1924 to 1998

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

Talkington Township on the 1924 USGS mapTalkington Township on the 1983 USGS mapTalkington Township on the 1998 USGS map1924Waverly 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 Talkington Township.

The story

How Talkington Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Talkington Township.

Read it all →

The original landscape of the township was entirely prairie, and was remote from any sources of timber. As a result, the township was settled later than much of Sangamon County.

Talkington Township was officially established in 1861, when Sangamon County adopted township boundaries, after the voters had approved township organization by a referendum the preceding year. It took its name from a settler named Job Talkington. It was designated to cover the entire survey township of Township 13 North Range 7 West, as well as portions of Township 13 North Range 8 West within Sangamon County. Livestock farming dominated early land use in the township.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Talkington Township, 1856 to 1924

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Johns Creek post office opens
  3. 1864Post officeThe Johns Creek post office closes
  4. 1872Post officeThe Lowder post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1924On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Talkington Township, decade by decade

Today6 recent
View downstream Sugar Creek Talkington Township 2026-06-062026View downstream Sugar Creek Talkington Township 2026-…Talkington Township building 2026-06-062026Talkington Township building 2026-06-06SW corner Thayer Clark showing solar farm 2026-06-062026SW corner Thayer Clark showing solar farm 2026-06-06NW corner Thayer Clark 2026-06-062026NW corner Thayer Clark 2026-06-06Edge of Lowder 2026-06-062026Edge of Lowder 2026-06-06Apple Creek Water Cooperative tower Lowder 2026-06-062026Apple Creek Water Cooperative tower Lowder 2026-06-06
People over time

Talkington Township, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,064

Between 161 and 1,064 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Talkington Township

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

See all →
Edward Alsworth RossAmerican sociologist · b. 1866
Henry Calvert SimonsAmerican economist · b. 1899
Charlotte PierceSilent film actress · b. 1904
William H. HinrichsenAmerican politician · b. 1850
W
Warren AmbroseAmerican mathematician · b. 1914
Melvin VanimanAmerican opera singer, aviator and photographer · b. 1866
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Johns Creek
1856–1864
Lowder
1872–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lowder
Gone or out of use
Countyline SchoolschoolJohns Creek SchoolschoolLocust Grove SchoolschoolProspect SchoolschoolProspect StationlocaleSherman SchoolschoolVictory Schoolschool

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.

North Otter TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAuburn TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Talkington Township’s history

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 (6), Wikipedia, 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.