1973 W. Rawlins Road, Elizabeth IL 61028
Phone: 1-815-777-3577 . . . Fax: 1-815-777-4866
Welcome to the official web site of Guilford Township. This web site was prepared by your Township officials and is dedicated to improving communications between Township residents and your elected officials.
It is our sincere hope this will increase your awareness of the importance of Township government – the form of government that is closest to the people it serves. Please take the opportunity to browse through this web site and become better informed about what we do to serve you.
A LITTLE HISTORY… Township government got its start in North America in 1636 and is the oldest form of government on the North American continent. In Illinois, the Township form of government held its first elections over a century and a half ago after its establishment by the Illinois Constitution in 1848.
Located in the northwest corner of Illinois in Jo Daviess County, Guilford Township’s first recorded meeting was conducted April 5th, 1853, and held at the home of James D. Rawlins. His son, John A. Rawlins, (born in Galena in 1831) was appointed Clerk and recorded the proceedings of the first Guilford Township meeting. John Rawlins studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1854, was a Major General in the War of the Rebellion (known as the Civil War), later appointed Secretary of War by President Ulysses S. Grant, but died shortly after that.
The historic original town hall was built in 1886. There was no indoor plumbing and it was heated with a wood-burning stove in the winter. After a new town hall was built, the original town hall was removed from the site. It was later struck by lightning and burned to the ground.
The new, larger town hall and garage was built in 1985 and is located near Elizabeth-Scales Mound Road on Rawlins Road, named after the Rawlins family who were among the earliest settlers in the Township.
Guilford Township was named by John A. Rawlins and is one of twenty-three Townships in Jo Daviess County. Our Township’s population in 1990 was 411; it more than doubled to 916 by 2000, and reached 1,206 in the 2010 Census. Per the 2020 Census, the population in Guilford Township is now 1,504. Our Township measures 37.34 square miles and is the unit of local government which administers three essential services for our Township community: providing General Assistance as administered by the Supervisor’s Office, local property tax assessing through the Assessor’s Office, and maintenance of township roads by the Highway Commissioner’s Office. Including the Highway Commissioner, the Road District has three full-time and as many as six part-time employees depending on the season.
Francis Wachter is the Township Supervisor. The Highway Commissioner is Nick Distler. Emily Winders is the Township Clerk. The Multi-Township Assessment District Assessor, Theresa Cole, performs local property tax assessing.
The overall governing body of the Township is the Board of Town Trustees who are Ron Babcock, Gary Diedrick, Thomas Moser, and Daniel Cogan.
The Township and Road District Operating Budgets are available for inspection upon request and are on file at the Jo Daviess County Courthouse, 330 North Bench Street, Galena, Illinois.
All township records are available on written request to the Township Clerk. All Road District records are available on written request through the Highway Commissioner’s Office. The Township does not maintain regular office hours. Therefore, prior arrangements and an appointment with a township official are necessary. There is no fee charged for the first 50 copies made of public records.