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A−History
History · Unity Township

25% of Unity Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 84% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Voorhies Castle. Below: maps from 1955 on.

1on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

About Unity Township’s history

How historic is Unity Township?

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More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Unity Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Unity Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns. All 2 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 Unity Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194024.8% of homes (±6.7) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 6.8 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 84%
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 Unity Township’s 6.8 sits above most of its state (79% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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 Unity 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 Unity Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Unity Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Unity Township’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Unity Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Unity 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
Places that used to be

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

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mackville
1868–1881
Pierson Station
1877–1974
Voorhies
1878–1908
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
MackvillePiersonVoorhies
Gone or out of use
Morris Farm Incorporated Airportairport
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Unity Township
AntiochHammondLake ForkMackvilleMoore

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

The story so far

Unity Township, in brief

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

Unity Township is a township in Piatt County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,418 and it contained 666 housing units. Massive dredge projects in the early 1900s transformed swamplands into a highly productive corn and livestock region.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,418 in 2010, 1,392 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Unity Township, 1868 to 1974

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Mackville post office opens
  3. 1877Post officeThe Pierson Station post office opens
  4. 1878Post officeThe Voorhies post office opens
  5. 1881Post officeThe Mackville post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1908Post officeThe Voorhies post office closes
  8. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1974Post officeThe Pierson Station post office closes
By decade

Unity Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Unity Township building 2026-09-122026Unity Township building 2026-09-12
On the map

Unity Township on the map, 1955 to 1998

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

Unity Township on the 1955 USGS mapUnity Township on the 1975 USGS mapUnity Township on the 1983 USGS mapUnity Township on the 1998 USGS map1955Bement 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 Unity Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Unity 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
first listed
1979
Voorhies Castle
Voorhies Castle
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
Voorhies CastleQueen Anne

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Unity Township

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

See all →
M
Margery C. CarlsonU.S. botanist and conservationist · b. 1892
Kenneth L. WilsonAmerican discus thrower, college athletics admi… · b. 1896
Hugh M. RigneyAmerican politician · b. 1873
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bement Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGarrett TownshipIts storyC+Cerro Gordo TownshipIts storyB+

Questions about Unity Township’s history

How does Unity Township rank for history?

Unity Township is more historic than 84% 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 Unity Township?

One place: the Voorhies Castle (listed 1979).

How old are the homes in Unity Township?

25% of Unity Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1960.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.