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History · Illinois Township

36% of Illinois Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1896 on.

0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Illinois 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 Illinois Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18963 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1985. Watch Illinois Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Illinois Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Illinois Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Illinois Township on the map, 1896 to 1985

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

Illinois Township on the 1896 USGS mapIllinois Township on the 1969 USGS mapIllinois Township on the 1985 USGS map1896Hays 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 Illinois Township.

The story

How Illinois Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Illinois Township.

Read it all →

Illinois Township was established in 1879 from part of Pioneer Township.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Illinois Township, 1878 to 1896

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Pioneer post office opens
  3. 1893Post officeThe Pioneer post office closes
  4. 1896On 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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Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Loretta
Gone or out of use
Pioneerlocale
1cemetery inside Illinois Township
Saint Mary's

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.

Big Timber TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPleasantdale Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFreedom TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLone Star Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Illinois Township’s history

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.