The Wethersfield Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Saxon (1855), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 3,845 in 20002020 census: 3,792187 years
How historic is Wethersfield Township?
B
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Wethersfield Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Wethersfield Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wethersfield Township is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #316 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wethersfield Township’s overall grade.
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 Wethersfield 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Wethersfield Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Wethersfield Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Wethersfield Township is one of twenty-four townships in Henry County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,792 and contained 1,840 housing units.
Its first post office opened in 1839. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,935 to 3,792 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Wethersfield Township in 1885
Passages that mention Wethersfield Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Illinois1885 · page 692Read the page →
Read the text
illiam H. Blish, engaged as a farmer in Wethersfield Township, where he is residing, was bom in Hartford Co., Conn., May 25, 1812. He lived in Connecticut until 1837, when he emigrated West, thinking to better his condition financially, where he located in Wethersfield Township, making his home here ever since.
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.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wethersfield Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1944Kewanee 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 Wethersfield Township.
People over time
Wethersfield Township, census by census
Between 3,792 and 3,935 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wethersfield Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Wethersfield Township
Nobody well known was born in Wethersfield Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Wethersfield Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Wethersfield Township rank for history?
Wethersfield Township is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #316 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.
How old are the homes in Wethersfield Township?
20% of Wethersfield Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 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.
