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History · Vinegar Hill Township

Vinegar Hill Township’s post office opened in 1852, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1911 on and the census since 2000.

1852first post office
4on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Vinegar Hill Township began

When was Vinegar Hill Township founded?

1852

The Vinegar Hill Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Vinegar Hill (1852) and Millbrig (1877), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 250 in 20002020 census: 398174 years
Founding year: the first Vinegar Hill Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Vinegar Hill 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 Vinegar Hill Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Vinegar Hill Township’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Vinegar Hill Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vinegar Hill Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vinegar Hill 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
The story so far

Vinegar Hill Township, in brief

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

Vinegar Hill Township is one of 23 townships in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 398 and it contained 151 housing units. Its name changed from Mann Township on September 18, 1857.

Its first post office opened in 1852. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 364 to 398 (+9%).

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Vinegar Hill
1852–1855
Millbrig
1877–1907
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Millbrig
Gone or out of use
Rock SchoolschoolUnity MinemineVinegar Hill MinemineVinegar Hill Schoolschool

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

Timeline

Vinegar Hill Township, 1852 to 1911

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Vinegar Hill post office opens
  3. 1855Post officeThe Vinegar Hill post office closes
  4. 1877Post officeThe Millbrig post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1907Post officeThe Millbrig post office closes
  7. 1909Born hereT. Harry Williams is born here
  8. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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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On the map

Vinegar Hill Township on the map, 1911 to 1968

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

Vinegar Hill Township on the 1911 USGS mapVinegar Hill Township on the 1968 USGS map1911Galena 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 Vinegar Hill Township.

On the National Register

4 historic places in Vinegar Hill Township

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Charles Wenner House
Charles Wenner House
Buildings
Charles Wenner HouseBuilding

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

People over time

Vinegar Hill Township, census by census

010020030040020002020Peak: 398

Between 250 and 398 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Vinegar Hill Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Rawlins Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCouncil Hill Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMenominee TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Vinegar Hill Township’s history

What year was Vinegar Hill Township founded?

The Vinegar Hill Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Vinegar Hill Township?

4 listings: 1 building, among them the Charles Wenner House (listed 1984, the first).

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 National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.