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History · Warsaw Township

Warsaw Township dates to 1814, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 24 old photos and papers, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1860.

1814founded
1on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
24old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Warsaw Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Warsaw Township began

When was Warsaw Township founded?

1814

Warsaw Township dates its founding to 1814 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 2,896 in 18602020 census: 1,510212 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1834.The full story ↓

What stands out about Warsaw Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos24 old photos, postcards and papers.Mystery photos18 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.Boom and bustPeaked at 3,583 in 1870; 1,510 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsEstablished in 1814: 212 years of Warsaw Township.
★ What stands out · By decade

Warsaw Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s6 items
HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 0 of 2) - 202-230 Main Street (Commercial Buildings)1933HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 0 of 2) - 202-230 Main Stre…HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 0 of 2) - 202-230 Main Street (Commercial Buildings)1933HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 0 of 2) - 202-230 Main Stre…HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 1 of 2) - 202-230 Main Street (Commercial Buildings)1933HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 1 of 2) - 202-230 Main Stre…HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 1 of 2) - 202-230 Main Street (Commercial Buildings)1933HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 1 of 2) - 202-230 Main Stre…HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 2 of 2) - 202-230 Main Street (Commercial Buildings)1933HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 2 of 2) - 202-230 Main Stre…HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 2 of 2) - 202-230 Main Street (Commercial Buildings)1933HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 2 of 2) - 202-230 Main Stre…
1940s–1990snothing 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
Date unknown18 to date
Historic American Buildings Survey Copied from an old photograph by Joseph Hill. MAIN STREET, WARSAW - Main Street (His…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Copied from an old…Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Photographer (?) July 13, 1936 NORTH ELEVATIONS STORES -214, -212 an…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Ph…Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Photographer END OF HOUSE - Mussetter House, 950 Webster Street, War…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Ph…Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Photographer July 1936 NORTH AND WEST ELEVATION -202 Main Street. - …Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Ph…Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Photographer July 1936 NORTH ELEVATION STORE -222, MAIN STREET - 222…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Ph…Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Photographer July 1936 NORTH ELEVATIONS STORES -222, -220 and -218 M…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Ph…Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Photographer July 1936 NORTH ELEVATIONS STORES -228, -226 and -224 M…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Ph…Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Photographer July 1936 SOUTH ELEVATION -421 MAIN STREET - 421 Main S…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Ph…Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Photographer July 1936 SOUTH ELEVATIONS STORES -407, -409, -411 and …Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Ph…Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Photographer July, 1936 NORTH ELEVATIONS STORES -230 and -228 MAIN S…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Ph…Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Photographer VIEW OF FRONT - Mussetter House, 950 Webster Street, Wa…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Harold Shriver, Ph…Main Street (Historic View)Date?Main Street (Historic View)Mussetter House, 950 Webster StreetDate?Mussetter House, 950 Webster Street421 Main Street (Commercial Building)Date?421 Main Street (Commercial Building)202 Main Street (Commercial Building)Date?202 Main Street (Commercial Building)222 Main Street (Commercial Building)Date?222 Main Street (Commercial Building)202-230 Main Street (Commercial Buildings)Date?202-230 Main Street (Commercial Buildings)407-413, 421-429 Main Street (Commercial Buildings)Date?407-413, 421-429 Main Street (Commercial Buildings)
Today4 recent
Warsaw post office 623792015Warsaw post office 62379La Harpe Carnegie library front2015La Harpe Carnegie library frontHill-Dodge Banking Company2015Hill-Dodge Banking CompanyKeokuk IA Bridges from River2004Keokuk IA Bridges from River
Help out

Finish Warsaw Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo18 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 0 of 2) - 202…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Warsaw Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000190019502000Peak: 3,583

Peaked at 3,583 in 1870; 1,510 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

The story

How Warsaw Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Warsaw Township.

Read it all →

The city of Warsaw began in 1814, when young Major Zachary Taylor founded Fort Johnson on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River across from the mouth of the Des Moines River. Fort Johnson was occupied only for a few weeks before it was burned. In 1815 another military camp, Fort Edwards, was built nearby at a different location. Warsaw became an important fur trading post and one of the earliest American settlements in northern Illinois.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Warsaw Township, 1814 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1814
    FoundingWarsaw Township is established
  3. 1870CensusPopulation peaks at 3,583
  4. 20th century
  5. 1933In the archiveHABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 0 of 2) - 202-230 Main Street (Commercial Buildings)
  6. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Warsaw Township on the map, 1964 to 1975

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

Warsaw Township on the 1964 USGS mapWarsaw Township on the 1975 USGS map1964Warsaw sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Warsaw Township.

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.

HABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 0 of 2) - 202-230 Main Street (Commercial Buildings)
Retake this viewHABS ILL,34-WAR,2- (sheet 0 of 2) - 202-230 Main Street (Commercial Buildings), 1933

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 92 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
92
each building in a district counts

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Warsaw1 historic placeA+Rocky Run-Wilcox TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Warsaw Township’s history

What year was Warsaw Township founded?

In 1814, according to Wikidata. Warsaw Township’s post office opened in 1834, and the census of 1860 counted 2,896 people here.

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 (21), the Library of Congress (7), Wikidata (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.