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History · Waddams Township

33% of Waddams Township’s homes were built before 1940

0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Waddams 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 Waddams Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Waddams Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Waddams Township’s homes were built before 1949.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Waddams Township’s collection

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

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

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

McConnell's Grove
1849–1883
Waddams Centre
1869–1877
McConnell
1883–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
McConnell
Gone or out of use
Amity ChurchchurchDamascus SchoolschoolDefiance SchoolschoolFairview SchoolschoolManny SchoolschoolPleasant Hill SchoolschoolPleasure Valley Landing AreaairportRichland Center SchoolschoolRichland Empire SchoolschoolSalem SchoolschoolWaddams Center Post Officepost officeWaddams Center SchoolschoolWagner Quarrymine
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Waddams Township
Brick ChurchMannyRichland Salem LutheranRobey WaiteSaint JamesSalem Shippee McconnellSilent Hill

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

The story

How Waddams Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Waddams Township.

Read it all →

On March 6, 1848 the Illinois State Constitution was adopted and went into effect on April 1, 1848. In the new constitution was an "Act" providing for a county, upon majority vote, to develop township governments. On November 5, 1849 Stephenson County voted on the "Act" and passed it with a vote of 973 to 99. In December three commissioners were appointed to divide the county from its six precinct form of government to sixteen townships. The commissioners were Levi Robey, Robert Forster and Erastus Torrey. On November 5, 1850 the supervisors for the township were elected.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Waddams Township, 1849 to 1883

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe McConnell's Grove post office opens
  3. 1869Post officeThe Waddams Centre post office opens
  4. 1877Post officeThe Waddams Centre post office closes
  5. 1883Post officeThe McConnell's Grove post office closes
  6. 1883Post officeThe McConnell post office opens
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.

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Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Buckeye Township2 historic placesA−West Point Township2 historic placesAWinslow TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townErin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHarlem Township2 historic placesA

Questions about Waddams Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.