Most of Towanda Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2010. Its Register listing is the Duncan Manor. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1973 on and old-book passages.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1855.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Towanda Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Towanda Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Towanda Township’s overall grade.
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 Towanda Township’s 4.0 sits above most of its state (73% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1875.
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 (±3.6 points).
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 Towanda Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The village was named for Towanda in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. The name means "burial ground" in Nanticoke, an Algonquian language. The land on which Towanda stands was first entered by Charles Badeau who had graduated from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, in 1840, and was employed as the assistant to the chief engineer of what was then the Alton and Springfield Railroad (now part of the Union Pacific system). Because in Illinois at that time it was illegal for railroads or their officials to establish new towns, much of the land was then transferred to two McLean County real estate developers, Jesse W. Fell (1808 – 1887) and Charles W. Holder (1819 - 1900). These two men laid out the town of Towanda and filed the plat on December 7, 1854.
Passages that mention Towanda Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of McLean County, Illinois1924 · page 117Read the page →
Read the text
Towanda Township. — Being a prairie district, Towanda was not settled as early as some of the townships having timber. There is only 460 acres of timber in the township and the rest of the land is rich prairie soil. Smith's grove, named for David Smith, who settled there in 1830, is in the center of the township, while in the north part is a strip of timber along Money Creek. John Trimmer and family were the first settlers, coming in 1826, following an Indian trail from the Wabash country and settling at the grove. Frederick Rook came soon afterward, but
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.
Timeline
Towanda Township, 1875 to 1973
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
In 1875, according to Wikidata. Towanda Township’s post office opened in 1855.
How does Towanda Township rank for history?
Towanda Township is more historic than 45% 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.
What is on the National Register in Towanda Township?
One place: the Duncan Manor (listed 1979).
How old are the homes in Towanda Township?
8% of Towanda Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 2010.
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 National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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