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History · York Township

York Township’s post office opened in 1820, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1957 on.

1820first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How York Township began

When was York Township founded?

1820

The York Township post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, York (1820) and Walnut Prairie (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 509206 years
Founding year: the first York Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about York 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 York Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s York Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1820: 206 years of York Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start York Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how York 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.

York
1820–1938
Walnut Prairie
1875–1923
West Union
1876–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Walnut PrairieWest UnionYork
Gone or out of use
Narrows Ferrycrossing
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside York Township
HarrisonHogueShawlerWalnut PrairieYork

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

Timeline

York Township, 1820 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1820Post officeThe York post office opens
  3. 1875Post officeThe Walnut Prairie post office opens
  4. 1876Post officeThe West Union post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1923Post officeThe Walnut Prairie post office closes
  7. 1938Post officeThe York post office closes
  8. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

York Township, in brief

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

York is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Illinois, United States. York is located along the Wabash River in far southeast Clark County.

Its first post office opened in 1820. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 551 to 509 (-8%).

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

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

York Township on the map, 1957 to 1998

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

York Township on the 1957 USGS mapYork Township on the 1966 USGS mapYork Township on the 1998 USGS map1957Hutsonville 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 York Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to York Township

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

See all →
William Harrison HaysAmerican politician · b. 1879
Charles Le MoyneActor · b. 1880
W
Walter BullockAmerican screenwriter and lyricist · b. 1907
C
Chris BennettAmerican dancer and singer · b. 1948
Frank AydelotteAmerican scholar · b. 1880
R
Robert CoulsonAmerican writer · b. 1928
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Darwin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMelrose TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHutsonville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about York Township’s history

What year was York Township founded?

The York Township post office opened in 1820, 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.