Willow Branch Township, Piatt County, Illinois

Willow Branch Township
Willow Branch Township
	Township
	Location in Piatt County
	Piatt County's location in Illinois
	Coordinates: 39°59′N88°41′W / 39.983°N 88.683°W Coordinates: 39°59′N88°41′W / 39.983°N 88.683°W
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Piatt
Area
• Total	67.39 sq mi (174.5 km2)
• Land	67.33 sq mi (174.4 km2)
• Water	0.06 sq mi (0.2 km2) 0.09%
Elevation	630 ft (192 m)
Population (2010)
• Estimate (2016) [1]	830
• Density	12.5/sq mi (4.8/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
FIPS code	17-147-81906

Last updated April 10, 2020

Willow Branch Township is a township in Piatt County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 839 and it contained 355 housing units.^[2]

History

Willow Branch Township changed its name from Liberty Township sometime around 1860.

The area is the site of a major archaeological site of the University of Illinois along the nearby Sangamon River of the homestead of Ira Sarlls, an early pioneer farmer to the area from New York ^[3]

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the township has a total area of 67.39 square miles (174.5 km²), of which 67.33 square miles (174.4 km²) (or 99.91%) is land and 0.06 square miles (0.16 km²) (or 0.09%) is water.^[2] The streams of Wildcat Creek and Willow Branch run through this township. Both streams are tributaries of the Sangamon River which runs from northeast to southwest through the township.

Willow Branch is part of Townships 17 and 18 North, Range 4 and 5 East of the Third Principal Meridian.

Robert Allerton Park, owned by the University of Illinois, is located in parts of Sections 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 30; T.18 N., R.5 E.

Cities and towns

Cisco

Extinct towns

Amenia

Adjacent townships

Goose Creek Township (north)
Monticello Township (east)
Bement Township (southeast)
Cerro Gordo Township (south)
Oakley Township, Macon County (southwest)
Friends Creek Township, Macon County (west)
Whitmore Township, Macon County (west)
Nixon Township, DeWitt County (northwest)

Cemeteries

The township contains eight cemeteries: Ater, Cronninger, Pioneer, Stringtown, Van Meter, Warfield Family, West France and Willow Branch. The Sheppard Family Cemetery and West Family Cemetery (both no longer used) are located in Robert Allerton Park.

Grain Elevators

Amenia—Allerton Station elevator (Section 17; T. 18 N.,R. 5 E.) was built along the Decatur–Monticello–Champaign—Illinois Central railroad on the Allerton farm Piatt North No. 1 in 1912. The wooden elevator burned 15 April 2015. Two concrete silos remain on the site.

Schools

Rural schools in T.18 N., R.5 E. included Excelsior School No. 66 (Section 7), Shady Nook School No.4, later No. 67 (Section 20), Stringtown School No. 65 (Section 8), Wildcat School No. 2, later No. 68 (Section 15), Willow Branch School No. 70 (Section 32).

The rural schools were all demolished or converted to residences.

Major highways

Interstate 72
Illinois State Route 48

Airports and landing strips

Norfleet Farms Airport

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
Est. 2016	830	^[1]
U.S. Decennial Census^[4]

Related Research Articles

Piatt County is a county in Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 16,729. Its county seat is Monticello.

Allerton is a village in Sidell Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. A small portion of the village extends into Champaign County. The population was 291 at the 2010 census.

Monticello is a city in Piatt County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,548 at the 2010 census, and 5,575 at a 2018 estimate. It is the county seat of Piatt County.

The Robert Allerton Park is a 1,517-acre (614 ha) park, nature center, and conference center located in the rural Piatt County township of Willow Branch, near Monticello, Illinois on the upper Sangamon River. The park and manor house, The Farms, are attributed to owner Robert Allerton, industrialist heir, artist, art collector and garden designer. Robert donated the complex to the University of Illinois in 1946.

Bement Township is a township in Piatt County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,893 and it contained 798 housing units.

Blue Ridge Township is a township in Piatt County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,480 and it contained 641 housing units.

Cerro Gordo Township is a township in Piatt County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 2,046 and it contained 874 housing units.

Goose Creek Township is a township in Piatt County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 790 and it contained 355 housing units.

Monticello Township is a township in Piatt County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 5,906 and it contained 2,651 housing units.

Sangamon Township is a township in Piatt County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 2,357 and it contained 929 housing units.

Sidney Township is a township in Champaign County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,733 and it contained 715 housing units.

South Homer Township is a township in Champaign County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,601 and it contained 681 housing units.

Urbana Township is a township in Champaign County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 7,451 and it contained 3,435 housing units.

Sangamon Valley Township is one of eleven townships in Cass County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 328 and it contained 191 housing units.

Sullivant Township is one of twelve townships in Ford County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 510 and it contained 238 housing units.

Friends Creek Township is located in Macon County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,450 and it contained 601 housing units.

Long Creek Township is located in Macon County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,679 and it contained 4,873 housing units.

Oakley Township is located in Macon County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,082 and it contained 475 housing units.

Whitmore Township is located in Macon County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 4,471 and it contained 1,915 housing units.

White Heath is an unincorporated census-designated place in Piatt County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 290.

References

1 2 "Population and Housing Unit Estimates" . Retrieved June 9, 2017.
1 2 "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County -- County Subdivision and Place -- 2010 Census Summary File 1". United States Census. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
↑ The Ira Sarlls site Illinois Archaeology Fever River Research, Springfield, IL http://www.illinoisarchaeology.com/Ira%20Sarlls%20Site.pdf
↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.

External links

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[USCensusEst2016-1] 1 2 "Population and Housing Unit Estimates" . Retrieved June 9, 2017.

[census-2] 1 2 "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County -- County Subdivision and Place -- 2010 Census Summary File 1". United States Census. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2013-05-28.

[3] The Ira Sarlls site Illinois Archaeology Fever River Research, Springfield, IL http://www.illinoisarchaeology.com/Ira%20Sarlls%20Site.pdf

[DecennialCensus-4] "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.

v t e Municipalities and communities of Piatt County, Illinois, United States
County seat: Monticello
City	Monticello	Map of Illinois highlighting Piatt County
Villages	Atwood‡ Bement Cerro Gordo Cisco De Land Hammond Ivesdale‡ Mansfield
Townships	Bement Blue Ridge Cerro Gordo Goose Creek Monticello Sangamon Unity Willow Branch
CDPs	La Place White Heath
Other unincorporated communities	Amenia Blue Ridge Galesville Lodge Milmine Pierson Voorhies
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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