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History · Warren Township

Warren Township’s post office opened in 1849, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1860.

1849first post office
2on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Warren Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Warren Township began

When was Warren Township founded?

1849

The Warren Township post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1853.

First census: 825 in 18602020 census: 1,487177 years
Founding year: the first Warren Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1853.The full story ↓

What stands out about Warren 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 writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19113 editions of the USGS map, 1911 to 1968. Watch Warren Township change.Old housesHalf of Warren Township’s homes were built before 1952.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Warren Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Warren Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewLibrary at Warren: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Warren Township on the map, 1911 to 1968

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

Warren Township on the 1911 USGS mapWarren Township on the 1936 USGS mapWarren Township on the 1968 USGS map1911Elizabeth 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 Warren Township.

The story

How Warren Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Warren Township.

Read it all →

Captain Alexander Burnett was the first known American settler in present-day Warren; he built a log cabin at the corner of what is now the corner of Main and Water Streets in 1843. In 1851 a stagecoach stop was erected on the Stagecoach Trail, the building still stands and is now serving as the Warren Community Building. The village was platted in 1853 along the proposed route for the Illinois Central Railroad tracks and later growth in Warren was heavily influenced by the presence of the railroad. The main commercial district is concentrated along both sides of the railroad tracks on Main and Railroad Streets. The village was officially incorporated in February 1857.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Warren Township, 1911 to 1990

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1913In the archiveLibrary at Warren
  4. 1990In the archiveWarren (IL) station, September 1990
By decade

Warren Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Library at Warren1913Library at Warren
1920s–1980snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1990s1 item
Warren (IL) station, September 19901990Warren (IL) station, September 1990
Date unknown1 to date
WarrenILlogoDate?WarrenILlogo
Today5 recent
Warren Tower 22009Warren Tower 2Warren Tower 12009Warren Tower 1Gidonb Warren 22008Gidonb Warren 2Gidonb Warren 12008Gidonb Warren 1ILMap-doton-Warren2005ILMap-doton-Warren
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Library at Warren
Retake this viewLibrary at Warren, 1913

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Warren Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 36 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
36
each building in a district counts

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

People over time

Warren Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,800190019502000Peak: 1,666

Between 825 and 1,666 people in every census since 1860.

16 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Sweet Home
Gone or out of use
Pepoon SchoolschoolRockford SchoolschoolSweet Home Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Warren Township
ElmwoodSaint Annes Catholic

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.

Apple River Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNora TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townApple RiverIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRush Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Warren Township’s history

What year was Warren Township founded?

The Warren Township post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 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 Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.