Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Washington Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Image Denhart Bank BuildingPhoto: Boscophotos · CC BY-SA 3.0
B+History
History · Washington Township

Washington Township dates to 1825, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #256 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Washington Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1928 on, and the census since 1850.

1825founded
4on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Washington Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Washington Township began

When was Washington Township founded?

1825

Washington Township dates its founding to 1825 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 712 in 18502020 census: 24,595201 years

How historic is Washington Township?

B+

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1833.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Washington Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Washington Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #256 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Washington Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1825, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19409.3% of homes (±2.1) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register4 listings, 1.6 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 71%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 67%

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Washington Township’s 1.6 sits above most of its state (66% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1825.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Washington 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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A National Historic Landmark4 places on the National Register, including Farm Creek Section, a National Historic Landmark.Deep rootsEstablished in 1825: 201 years of Washington Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Washington Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 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 viewWashington, Ill., December 7, 2013 -- D…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

4 historic places in Washington Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmark
1
Farm Creek Section
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
Farm Creek Section
Farm Creek Section★
Sites★ landmark
★ Landmark
Farm Creek SectionSite

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

Timeline

Washington Township, 1825 to 1997

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1825
    FoundingWashington Township is established
  3. 1833Post officeThe Holland's Grove post office opens
  4. 1837Post officeThe Holland's Grove post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1997LandmarkFarm Creek Section named a National Historic Landmark
The story

How Washington Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Washington Township.

Read it all →

Washington was settled in 1825 by William Holland Sr., who came from North Carolina and was hired by the U.S. government to provide blacksmith services to the local Native Americans. During his long and eventful life, he was married three times, and was the father of twenty-one children: fourteen by his first wife and seven by his second wife. He had eighty-two grandchildren and fifty great-grandchildren. He died in Washington on November 27, 1871, at the age of ninety-one. The post office (and later the city) was originally named Holland's Grove on February 12, 1833 before being renamed in honor of the first U.S. president, George Washington, on September 13, 1837.

Chapters2013 tornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Washington Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Washington, Ill., December 7, 2013 -- Debris from the Nov. 17, 2013 tornado remain in the Georgetown Common apartments.…Date?Washington, Ill., December 7, 2013 -- Debris from the…
Today17 recent
William Holland plaque in Washington Illinois 20240505 00922024William Holland plaque in Washington Illinois 2024050…Washington Illinois square 20240505 01142024Washington Illinois square 20240505 0114Washington Illinois 20240505 01222024Washington Illinois 20240505 0122Washington Historical Society Washington Illinois 20240505 00952024Washington Historical Society Washington Illinois 202…Washington Historical Society Washington Illinois 20240505 00742024Washington Historical Society Washington Illinois 202…Cornerstone Washington Illinois 20240505 01272024Cornerstone Washington Illinois 20240505 0127Cornerstone Washington Illinois 20240505 01082024Cornerstone Washington Illinois 20240505 0108City of Washington Illinois plaque 20240505 00962024City of Washington Illinois plaque 20240505 0096Central Primary School Washington Illinois 20240505 00662024Central Primary School Washington Illinois 20240505 0…Bell in Washington Illinois 20240505 00902024Bell in Washington Illinois 20240505 0090Bell in Washington Illinois 20240505 00892024Bell in Washington Illinois 20240505 0089Image Denhart Bank Building2015Image Denhart Bank BuildingWashingtonEF42013WashingtonEF4Debris strewn around in a heavily damage neighborhood in2013Debris strewn around in a heavily damage neighborhood…17 November 2013 Washington tornado damage 2201317 November 2013 Washington tornado damage 217 Nov 2013 Washington tornado damage201317 Nov 2013 Washington tornado damageDement Zinser House2006Dement Zinser House
On the map

Washington Township on the map, 1928 to 1995

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

Washington Township on the 1928 USGS mapWashington Township on the 1932 USGS mapWashington Township on the 1970 USGS mapWashington Township on the 1995 USGS map1928Mackinaw 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 Washington 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.

Washington, Ill., December 7, 2013 -- Debris from the Nov. 17, 2013 tornado remain in the Georgetown Common apartments.…
Retake this viewWashington, Ill., December 7, 2013 -- Debris from the Nov. 17, 2013 tornado remain in the Georgetown Common apartments.…

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Washington Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,000185019001950200016,071

Grew from 712 people in 1850 to 16,071 in 2020, more than tenfold.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Harvard Hills
Gone or out of use
Cottonwood SchoolschoolFranklin SchoolschoolGreenridge SchoolschoolHopewell SchoolschoolLafayette SchoolschoolLeonard W Hesselien AirportairportLiberty SchoolschoolMennonite ChurchchurchPleasant View SchoolschoolSmittys AirportairportStormer SchoolschoolUnion Churchchurch
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Washington Township
FarmdaleFichtHollands GroveUnion

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.

Fondulac TownshipIts storyC+MortonIts storyC+Morton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCruger TownshipIts storyCWorth Township1 historic placeC

Questions about Washington Township’s history

What year was Washington Township founded?

In 1825, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Washington Township’s post office opened in 1833, and the census of 1850 counted 712 people here.

How does Washington Township rank for history?

Washington Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #256 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Washington Township?

4 listings: 1 site.

How old are the homes in Washington Township?

9% of Washington Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1974.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.