The story
Read it all →How Winnebago Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Winnebago Township.
James Weber Linn (1876–1939), educator and politician, was born in Winnebago.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick answers
How Winnebago Township began
When was Winnebago Township founded?
1835
Winnebago Township dates its founding to 1835 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
First census: 504 in 18802020 census: 4,984191 years
How historic is Winnebago Township?
B
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1850.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Winnebago Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winnebago Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #332 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 Winnebago Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1835, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194017.7% of homes (±7.1) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 57%
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 Winnebago 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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1835.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Winnebago 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 Winnebago Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Winnebago Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1835: 191 years of Winnebago Township.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Winnebago Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Winnebago Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.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.
Elida
Alworth
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AlworthWestfield Corners
Gone or out of use
Elida Post Officepost officeFalconer SchoolschoolHart SchoolschoolMaple Corners SchoolschoolWeldon SchoolschoolWhite Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Winnebago Township
CalvaryMiddle CreekWillwood Burial ParkWinnebago
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Winnebago Township, 1835 to 1981
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1835FoundingWinnebago Township is established
- 1850Post officeThe Elida post office opens
- 1889Post officeThe Alworth post office opens
- 1899Post officeThe Alworth post office closes
- 20th century
- 1905Post officeThe Elida post office closes
- 1981
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Winnebago Township, decade by decade
2012
2007
2007
2007
2007On the map
Winnebago Township on the map in 1981
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Winnebago Township.
1981Rockford sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Winnebago Township.
People over time
Winnebago Township, census by census
Between 405 and 3,101 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Winnebago Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Winnebago Township’s history
What year was Winnebago Township founded?
In 1835, according to Wikidata. Winnebago Township’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1880 counted 504 people here.
How does Winnebago Township rank for history?
Winnebago Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #332 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 Winnebago Township?
18% of Winnebago Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1982.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.