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History · Walnut Grove Township

Walnut Grove Township’s post office opened in 1844, and 54% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1940 on.

1844first post office
0on the National Register
54%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Walnut Grove Township began

When was Walnut Grove Township founded?

1844

The Walnut Grove Township post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Walnut Grove (1844), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 685182 years
Founding year: the first Walnut Grove Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Walnut Grove 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 Walnut Grove Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Walnut Grove Township’s homes were built before 1938.Deep rootsA post office since 1844: 182 years of Walnut Grove Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Walnut Grove Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Walnut Grove 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

Walnut Grove Township, in brief

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

Walnut Grove Township is one of twenty-one townships in Knox County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 685 and it contained 317 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1844. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 770 to 685 (-11%).

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

Timeline

Walnut Grove Township, 1844 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1844Post officeThe Walnut Grove post office opens
  3. 1868Post officeThe Walnut Grove post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1940On 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

Walnut Grove Township on the map, 1940 to 1982

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

Walnut Grove Township on the 1940 USGS mapWalnut Grove Township on the 1982 USGS map1940Galva 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 Walnut Grove Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Walnut Grove Township

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

See all →
Don SamuelsonAmerican politician · b. 1913
George Helgesen FitchAmerican politician · b. 1877
George A. WilliamsAmerican politician, Nebraska · b. 1864
B
Bob SwisherAmerican football player · b. 1914
Hick CadyAmerican baseball player · b. 1886
C
Charles Abel BuffumAmerican mayor and businessman · b. 1870
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Austin SchoolschoolBrowne SchoolschoolChalman SchoolschoolCummings SchoolschoolFerris SchoolschoolFort Sumpter SchoolschoolPierce SchoolschoolSimpson Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Walnut Grove Township
LarsonWalnut Grove

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.

Lynn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWeller Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCopley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOntario Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGalva Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Walnut Grove Township’s history

What year was Walnut Grove Township founded?

The Walnut Grove Township post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.