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AHistory
History · Toulon Township

Toulon Township dates to 1841, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 5 old photos and papers from 1907 on and old-book passages.

1841founded
1on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Toulon Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Toulon Township began

When was Toulon Township founded?

1841

Toulon Township dates its founding to 1841 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1844.

2020 census: 2,233185 years

How historic is Toulon Township?

A

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1844.
History grade

What drives Toulon Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Toulon Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Toulon Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1841, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194040.9% of homes (±5.7) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 3.6 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 90%
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 Toulon Township’s 3.6 sits above most of its state (72% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.7 points). Two sources give 1841.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Toulon Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Toulon Township’s homes were built before 1953.Deep rootsEstablished in 1841: 185 years of Toulon Township.
★ What stands out · The story so far

Toulon Township, in brief

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

Toulon is a city and the county seat of Stark County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Toulon had a population of 1,193. Toulon is part of the Peoria metropolitan area, and is the northwestern terminus of the Rock Island Trail State Park.

Toulon Township was established in 1841. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,420 to 2,233 (-8%).

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

Timeline

Toulon Township, 1841 to 1907

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1841
    FoundingToulon Township is established
  3. 1861Post officeThe Modena post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906Post officeThe Modena post office closes
  6. 1907In the archiveMap of Toulon, Illinois (1907)
From the old history books

What they wrote about Toulon Township in 1916

Passages that mention Toulon Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

In 1841 the county seat was located at Toulon and much of the history of Toulon Township is intimately associated with the county seat. It is therefore told in connection with the history of the City of Toulon in another chajiter. The Peoria & Rock Island (now the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific) Ra…
History of Stark County, Illinois, and its people1916Read the page →
Read the text

In 1841 the county seat was located at Toulon and much of the history of Toulon Township is intimately associated with the county seat. It is therefore told in connection with the history of the City of Toulon in another chajiter. The Peoria & Rock Island (now the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific) Railroad was built through the township in 1871.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Toulon Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Map of Toulon, Illinois (1907)1907Map of Toulon, Illinois (1907)Map
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown4 to date
Historic American Buildings Survey Joseph Hill, Photographer April 1936 DETAIL OF MEDICINE CASE - Dr. Hall House and Of…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Joseph Hill, Photo…Historic American Buildings Survey Joseph Hill, Photographer April 1936 REAR OFFICE VIEW SHOWING OLD MANTLE. - Dr. Hall…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Joseph Hill, Photo…Historic American Buildings Survey Joseph Hill, Photographer April 28,1936 EAST AND SOUTH ELEVATIONS - Dr. Hall House a…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Joseph Hill, Photo…Historic American Buildings Survey Joseph Hill, Photographer April 28,1936 EAST ELEVATION SHOWING FRONT ENTRANCE, RESTO…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Joseph Hill, Photo…
Today1 recent
Stark County Courthouse and memorial, Illinois2019Stark County Courthouse and memorial, Illinois
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Historic American Buildings Survey Joseph Hill, Photographer April 1936 DETAIL OF MEDICINE CASE - Dr. Hall House and Of…
Retake this viewHistoric American Buildings Survey Joseph Hill, Photographer April 1936 DETAIL OF MEDICINE CASE - Dr. Hall House and Of…

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Toulon Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Toulon Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Modena
Gone or out of use
Holmes SchoolschoolJug Run SchoolschoolMaxfield SchoolschoolRist SchoolschoolWinn Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Toulon Township
Mawbey

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

Help out

Start Toulon Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Toulon Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHistoric American Buildings Survey Jose…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Goshen TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEssex Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townElmira TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPenn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Toulon Township’s history

What year was Toulon Township founded?

In 1841, according to Wikidata. Toulon Township’s post office opened in 1844.

How does Toulon Township rank for history?

Toulon Township is more historic than 90% 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 Toulon Township?

41% of Toulon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1953.

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), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.