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History · Greenwood Township

Greenwood Township’s post office opened in 1861, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1885 on.

1861first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Bhall87 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Greenwood Township began

When was Greenwood Township founded?

1861

The Greenwood Township post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Greenwood (1861), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 403165 years
Founding year: the first Greenwood Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Greenwood 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 Greenwood Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18854 editions of the USGS map, 1885 to 1983. Watch Greenwood Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Greenwood Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Greenwood 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
On the map

Greenwood Township on the map, 1885 to 1983

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

Greenwood Township on the 1885 USGS mapGreenwood Township on the 1956 USGS mapGreenwood Township on the 1973 USGS mapGreenwood Township on the 1983 USGS map1885Lawrence sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Greenwood Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greenwood Township.

Read it all →

The Sac and Fox Agency post office opened in 1855. It was renamed to Greenwood in 1861 but was discontinued in 1872. Greenwood Township was organized in 1865 from a part of Ohio Township. The Sac and Fox agency itself was removed from the territory in 1863 to Quenemo, Osage County, and the first settlement in Greenwood occurred that year:621.

The town of Greenwood is located where the Sac and Fox Agency used to be. It was here where Keokuk and the other Sac nation members were relocated after the Black Hawk War.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Greenwood Township, 1861 to 1885

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861Post officeThe Greenwood post office opens
  3. 1872Post officeThe Greenwood post office closes
  4. 1885On 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
Famous people

Famous people close to Greenwood Township

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

See all →
John G. ThompsonAmerican mathematician · b. 1932
Steven HawleyAmerican astronaut · b. 1951
Gary HartAmerican politician · b. 1936
J
Jack ColvinAmerican actor · b. 1934
Jerry VoorhisDemocratic politician from California · b. 1901
Olive Ann BeechAmerican businesswoman · b. 1904
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Greenwood, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Chippewa Ranch AirportairportGreenwood SchoolschoolMiddleton SchoolschoolSouth Illinois Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Greenwood Township
Central

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Pomona TownshipIts storyC+Homewood Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLincoln TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAgency TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWilliamsburg Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLincoln TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCentropolis TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Greenwood Township’s history

What year was Greenwood Township founded?

The Greenwood Township post office opened in 1861, 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 →
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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 Wikipedia, 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.