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History · Taylor Township

Taylor Township’s post office opened in 1849

Most of Taylor Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1918 on.

1849first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Taylor Township began

When was Taylor Township founded?

1849

The Taylor Township post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Taylor (1849), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 936177 years
Founding year: the first Taylor Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Taylor 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 Taylor 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 1983. Watch Taylor Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Taylor Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Taylor Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Taylor 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

Taylor Township on the map, 1918 to 1983

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

Taylor Township on the 1918 USGS mapTaylor Township on the 1950 USGS mapTaylor Township on the 1983 USGS map1918Dixon 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 Taylor Township.

Timeline

Taylor Township, 1849 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Taylor post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Taylor post office closes
  5. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Taylor Township, in brief

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

Taylor Township is located in Ogle County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 963 and it contained 488 housing units. A referendum to merge Taylor Township with neighboring LaFayette Township failed when Taylor voted against the referendum. The referendum was approved in LaFayette.

Its first post office opened in 1849. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 963 to 936 (-3%).

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

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.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Taylor Township

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

See all →
Carl BarksAmerican cartoonist · b. 1901
A
Akiane KramarikAmerican artist, humanitarian, poet, child prod… · b. 1994
Ralph Waldo TrineAmerican author · b. 1866
Harry Leon WilsonAmerican novelist · b. 1867
Kenneth Mills ReganAmerican politician · b. 1893
John F. McGeeUnited States federal judge · b. 1861
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
CarthageLost Nation
Gone or out of use
Hoosier Street SchoolschoolPrairieside SchoolschoolTealls Corners 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.

Grand Detour Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNachusa TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrand Detour2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOregon-Nashua Township5 historic placesA+Lafayette Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFranklin Grove Township1 historic placeAAshton TownshipIts storyBDixon Township7 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Taylor Township’s history

What year was Taylor Township founded?

The Taylor Township post office opened in 1849, 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 →
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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 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.