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History · Allerton

Allerton dates to 1880, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1910.

1880founded
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Omnedon · Public domain
Quick answers

How Allerton began

When was Allerton founded?

1880

Allerton dates its founding to 1880 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 379 in 19102020 census: 262146 years
Founding year: Wikipedia.The full story ↓

What stands out about Allerton’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 Allerton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Allerton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Allerton’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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The story

How Allerton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Allerton.

Read it all →

Samuel W. Allerton was a wealthy landowner in Vermilion County who had made his fortune on the agricultural and livestock markets. He was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Chicago and co-founder of the Chicago Union Stockyards. The town was founded on a 3,800-acre (15 km2) tract of land in the southwestern part of the county which Allerton purchased in 1880. It had formerly been known as Twin Grove Farm (because of two very similar 100-acre (0.40 km2) groves of trees in the area). When the C&EI railroad came through the area, he gave them a right-of-way through his land, and then established a grain elevator and platted the village; later he provided land for a park, established a bank, provided funds for a new brick school in 1894, and installed a water system. Allerton himself continued to live in Chicago.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.

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On the map

Allerton on the map, 1956 to 1998

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

Allerton on the 1956 USGS mapAllerton on the 1982 USGS mapAllerton on the 1998 USGS map1956Newman sheet · 1:62,500

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

People over time

Allerton, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 379

Between 262 and 379 people in every census since 1910.

11 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Allerton’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Allerton’s history

What year was Allerton founded?

In 1880, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1910 counted 379 people here.

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, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.