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History · Whitley Township

16% of Whitley Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1947 on.

0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Whitley 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 Whitley Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Whitley Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Whitley Township’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Whitley Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Whitley 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.

Coles Courthouse
1831–1843
Lynn Creek
1849–1850
Coles Station
1872–1883
Bruce
1874–1936
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BruceColes
Gone or out of use
Little Brick SchoolschoolSmysor SchoolschoolWhitfield Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Whitley Township
EllisLynn CreekOld Lynn CreekWhitfield

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

The story so far

Whitley Township, in brief

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

Whitley Township is located in Moultrie County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 660 and it contained 278 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 660 to 602 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Whitley Township, 1831 to 1947

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1831Post officeThe Coles Courthouse post office opens
  3. 1843Post officeThe Coles Courthouse post office closes
  4. 1849Post officeThe Lynn Creek post office opens
  5. 1850Post officeThe Lynn Creek post office closes
  6. 1872Post officeThe Coles Station post office opens
  7. 1883Post officeThe Coles Station post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1947On 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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On the map

Whitley Township on the map, 1947 to 1998

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

Whitley Township on the 1947 USGS mapWhitley Township on the 1981 USGS mapWhitley Township on the 1998 USGS map1947Stewardson 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 Whitley Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Whitley Township

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

See all →
M
Melbourne Armstrong CarrikerAmerican ornithologist and entomologist · b. 1879
Wesley Livsey JonesAmerican politician · b. 1863
William Cowper BrannAmerican journalist · b. 1855
Stephen T. WorlandAmerican economist · b. 1923
Hap HadleyAmerican illustrator · b. 1895
C
Cora MeekAmerican quiltmaker · b. 1889
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Windsor TownshipIts storyCAsh Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast Nelson TownshipIts storyBMattoon Township7 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Whitley Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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.