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History · Willow Creek Township

Willow Creek Township’s post office opened in 1850, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1971 on.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Willow Creek Township began

When was Willow Creek Township founded?

1850

The Willow Creek Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Willow Creek (1850) and Scarboro (1906), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 646176 years
Founding year: the first Willow Creek Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Willow Creek 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 Willow Creek Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Willow Creek Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Willow Creek Township’s homes were built before 1946.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Willow Creek Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Willow Creek 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

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

Willow Creek
1850–1873
Scarboro
1906–1931
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Scarboro
Gone or out of use
Hillson SchoolschoolHome Free AirportairportHowlett SchoolschoolMoffett SchoolschoolWinterton Airportairport
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Willow Creek Township
EllsworthFirst Lutheran ChurchSaint Marys Twin Grove GermanTwin Grove

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

The story so far

Willow Creek Township, in brief

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

Willow Creek Township is located in Lee County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 646 and it contained 277 housing units. Willow Creek Township was formed from Wyoming Township in September, 1854.

Its first post office opened in 1850. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 688 to 646 (-6%).

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

Timeline

Willow Creek Township, 1850 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Willow Creek post office opens
  3. 1873Post officeThe Willow Creek post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906Post officeThe Scarboro post office opens
  6. 1931Post officeThe Scarboro post office closes
  7. 1971On 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

Willow Creek Township on the map, 1971 to 1985

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

Willow Creek Township on the 1971 USGS mapWillow Creek Township on the 1985 USGS map1971Lee sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Willow Creek Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Willow Creek Township

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

See all →
J
Joan AllenAmerican actress · b. 1956
D
Duane SwansonBasketball player · b. 1913
Lloyd IngrahamActor, film director · b. 1874
Gary K. WolfAmerican author · b. 1941
Knute HillAmerican politician · b. 1876
P
Paul R. LawrenceAmerican business theorist · b. 1922
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Shabbona Township1 historic placeA−Viola Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAlto TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Willow Creek Township’s history

What year was Willow Creek Township founded?

The Willow Creek Township post office opened in 1850, 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.