Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Union Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1870.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Union Township’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,152 in 1900; 755 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Union Township’s Wikipedia page.
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Union Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Union Township is one of fifteen townships in Effingham County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 755 and it contained 320 housing units.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 742 in 2010, 755 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Union Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
were also early settlers in the county. They were all from Tennessee. Fred lived on the road to Blue Point, and William lived near the line, but probably in Union Township. Fred had a grist mill and saw mill on the Little Wabash, in Union Township. Thomas was instrumental in having the tii-st school taught in the township. They are all dead
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
1861, which time he sold out and came back to Jasper County, and remained there until the spring of 1862, when he sold out and purchased a farm in Union Township of 160 acres. It was nearljall wild land; thirtj' acres were in cultivation. Now he has it all in cultivation.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Union Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Union Township.
Nobody well known was born in Union Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, U.S. Census counts (via 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.
