Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #471 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Below: maps from 1911 on and the census since 2000.
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Lincoln Township is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #471 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 West Lincoln Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Lincoln Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Lincoln Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of West Lincoln Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of West Lincoln Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
West Lincoln Township is located in Logan County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,437 and it contained 3,618 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 7,685 to 7,437 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention West Lincoln Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
cord wood in Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. He returned to Logan County, Illinois, in 1866 and worked on the farm of Jacob Gehlbach in West Lincoln Township for three years. In 1864 he purchased a farm of 160 acres in West Lincoln Township where he engaged in farming for himself, living there till 1881, when he became a resident of Lincoln. Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
494 HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. j cord wood in Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas, He returned to Logan County, Illinois, in 1866 and worked on the farm of Jacob Gehlbach in West Lincoln Township for three years. In 1864 he purchased a farm of 160 acres in West Lincoln Township where he engaged in farming for himself, living there till 1881, when he became a* resident of Lincoln. Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBetween 7,437 and 8,042 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Lincoln Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in West Lincoln Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Burton View, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
West Lincoln Township is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #471 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.
16% of West Lincoln Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1970.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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