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History · Shiley Township

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

Below: maps from 1892 on.

0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Shiley 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 Shiley Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Shiley Township change.Old housesHalf of Shiley Township’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Shiley Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Shiley 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

Shiley Township on the map, 1892 to 1985

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

Shiley Township on the 1892 USGS mapShiley Township on the 1970 USGS mapShiley Township on the 1985 USGS map1892Ness 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 Shiley Township.

The story

How Shiley Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Shiley Township.

Read it all →

Shiley Township was created from part of Browns Grove Township in the 1910s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Shiley Township, 1878 to 1892

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Lanark post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Lanark post office closes
  4. 1892On 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 and places now gone

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

Gone or out of use
LanarklocaleShiley Oil FieldoilfieldSteffen Oil Fieldoilfield

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.

Alexander-Belle Prairie TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrowns Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarena TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLincoln TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHighpoint Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Shiley 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.