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History · Tennessee Township

Tennessee Township’s post office opened in 1856, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 1880.

1856first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Adam Moss · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Tennessee Township began

When was Tennessee Township founded?

1856

The Tennessee Township post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Hills Grove (1840) and Friendship (1849), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 262 in 18802020 census: 339170 years
Founding year: the first Tennessee Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Tennessee 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 Tennessee Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 327 in 1900; 101 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Tennessee Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tennessee Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tennessee 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
People over time

Tennessee Township, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 327

Peaked at 327 in 1900; 101 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

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.

Hills Grove
1840–1898
Friendship
1849–1866
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hills Grove
Gone or out of use
Centennial SchoolschoolCherry Grove SchoolschoolColchester QuarrymineHills Grove SchoolschoolLawyer SchoolschoolMartin SchoolschoolMcClure QuarriesmineTennessee Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tennessee Township
FriendshipHills GroveHutchinsonMourningSacred Heart

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

The story

How Tennessee Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tennessee Township.

Read it all →

A post office called Tennessee has been in operation since 1856. The village was named after the state of Tennessee.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Tennessee Township, 1840 to 1913

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840Post officeThe Hills Grove post office opens
  3. 1849Post officeThe Friendship post office opens
  4. 1866Post officeThe Friendship post office closes
  5. 1898Post officeThe Hills Grove post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 327
  8. 1913On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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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On the map

Tennessee Township on the map, 1913 to 1974

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

Tennessee Township on the 1913 USGS mapTennessee Township on the 1974 USGS map1913Colchester 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 Tennessee Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hancock TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLamoine TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townColchester Township2 historic placesA−Hire TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Tennessee Township’s history

What year was Tennessee Township founded?

The Tennessee Township post office opened in 1856, 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 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.