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History · Vance Township

Vance Township dates to 1866, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

1866founded
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Vance Township began

When was Vance Township founded?

1866

Vance Township dates its founding to 1866 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1853.

2020 census: 1,001160 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1853.

What stands out about Vance 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 Vance Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Vance Township’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vance Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Vance Township, in brief

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

Vance Township is a township in Vermilion County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,057 and it contained 457 housing units.

Vance Township was established in 1866. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,057 to 1,001 (-5%).

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

Timeline

Vance Township, 1853 to 1873

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853Post officeThe Jordan post office opens
  3. 1866
    FoundingVance Township is established
  4. 1873Post officeThe Jordan post office closes
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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Famous people

Famous people close to Vance Township

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

See all →
M
Marianne DickersonAmerican distance runner · b. 1960
Frank HanlyAmerican politician · b. 1863
L
Lee MiglinAmerican real estate developer · b. 1924
B
Bert GrahamBaseball player · b. 1886
Donald E. RunyonAmerican World War II flying ace · b. 1913
H
Harry BaumAmerican football player and coach · b. 1874
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Biddle SchoolschoolCatlett Landing StripairportDaugherty SchoolschoolJordan SchoolschoolMaple Grove SchoolschoolPleasant Valley SchoolschoolWalnut Grove SchoolschoolWideawake Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vance Township
BodkinDavis

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Catlin TownshipIts storyC+Oakwood TownshipIts storyB−South Homer TownshipIts storyBJamaica TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSidell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Vance Township’s history

What year was Vance Township founded?

In 1866, according to Wikidata. Vance Township’s post office opened in 1853.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.