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History · White Rock Township

White Rock Township’s post office opened in 1846, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1917 on.

1846first post office
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How White Rock Township began

When was White Rock Township founded?

1846

The White Rock Township post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, White Rock (1846), Luda (1859) and King (1866), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 711180 years
Founding year: the first White Rock Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about White Rock 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 White Rock Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s White Rock Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19173 editions of the USGS map, 1917 to 1993. Watch White Rock Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1846: 180 years of White Rock Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start White Rock Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how White Rock 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, places now gone and burying grounds

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

White Rock
1846–1904
Luda
1859–1874
King
1866–1868
Kings
1875–1962
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
KingsWhite Rock
Gone or out of use
Luda SchoolschoolPhelps SchoolschoolWillowhead Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside White Rock Township
Bethel - HayesChaneyWhite Rock

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

On the map

White Rock Township on the map, 1917 to 1993

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

White Rock Township on the 1917 USGS mapWhite Rock Township on the 1971 USGS mapWhite Rock Township on the 1993 USGS map1917Kings 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 White Rock Township.

The story so far

White Rock Township, in brief

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

White Rock is an unincorporated community in White Rock Township, Ogle County, Illinois, United States, located 5 miles (8.0 km) south-southwest of Davis Junction.

Its first post office opened in 1846. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 738 to 711 (-4%).

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

Timeline

White Rock Township, 1846 to 1917

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846Post officeThe White Rock post office opens
  3. 1859Post officeThe Luda post office opens
  4. 1866Post officeThe King post office opens
  5. 1868Post officeThe King post office closes
  6. 1874Post officeThe Luda post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1904Post officeThe White Rock post office closes
  9. 1917On 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.
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Famous people

Famous people close to White Rock Township

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

See all →
J
Joan AllenAmerican actress · b. 1956
Carl BarksAmerican cartoonist · b. 1901
Albert SpaldingAmerican pitcher, manager, and business executi… · b. 1850
Lloyd IngrahamActor, film director · b. 1874
William CourtrightActor · b. 1848
Frank WhiteAmerican politician · b. 1856
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Scott Township1 historic placeB−Flagg Township4 historic placesBHillcrestIts storyDLynnville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about White Rock Township’s history

What year was White Rock Township founded?

The White Rock Township post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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.