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History · West Township

37% of West Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1952 on.

0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about West 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 West Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s West Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start West Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Kumler
1877–1913
Sabina
1878–1881
Glenavon
1899–1914
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Glen AvonKumlerSabina
Gone or out of use
Le Roy Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

West Township, in brief

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

West Township is located in McLean County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 216 and it contained 94 housing units. West Township changed its name from Kickapoo Township on May 17, 1858.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 216 to 238 (+10%).

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

Timeline

West Township, 1877 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877Post officeThe Kumler post office opens
  3. 1878Post officeThe Sabina post office opens
  4. 1881Post officeThe Sabina post office closes
  5. 1899Post officeThe Glenavon post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1913Post officeThe Kumler post office closes
  8. 1914Post officeThe Glenavon post office closes
  9. 1952On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

West Township on the map, 1952 to 1983

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

West Township on the 1952 USGS mapWest Township on the 1983 USGS map1952Arrowsmith 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 West Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to West Township

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

See all →
Edwin V. ChampionAmerican politician · b. 1890
John Allen SterlingAmerican politician · b. 1857
K
Kenneth L. WilliamsAmerican zoologist · b. 1934
Vespasian WarnerAmerican politician · b. 1842
Ralph HorrAmerican politician · b. 1884
Blake FeeseAmerican racing driver · b. 1982
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Empire Township1 historic placeA−Bellflower TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSanta Anna TownshipIts storyB+Arrowsmith TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about West Township’s history

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 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.