Arlington was settled in 1843 and laid out in 1853 by James Waugh at the advent of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad through the area.
In the early 1900s, Arlington, which was then called "Lost Grove", was experiencing rapid growth and development. Many companies set up shop to profit from the people flocking to the jobs at the coal mines in this area of Illinois. The businesses included a mattress factory, beer brewery, numerous restaurants, a brothel, and many others. The mayor at the time was from New York, and changed the town's name to Arlington, after the town of Arlington, New York. Arlington was about the size of Peru, Illinois.
Passages that mention Arlington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The voters and tax-payers of Bureau county, Illinois1877 · page 113Read the page →
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Blodgett and Lindley, and while they were disputing about their rights, it was entered by Benj. Briggs, who sold it to Michael Kennedy in 1840, and he made a large farm here soms years afterwards, and laid off the village of Arlington. In 1840, David Roth, having a contract for grading, on the Illinois Central Railroad, built a house east of the Grove, and sold it to Martin Corley, who made a farm here. Others settled around the Grove, among whom were Daniel Cahill, D. Lyon, James Waugh, Peter Cassady, Mr.
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The voters and tax-payers of Bureau county, Illinois1877 · page 137Read the page →
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The membership is not large, and the charge is in connection with that at Arlington, in which account the names of the pastors are given. The church supports a very creditable Sabbath-school. In Clarion Township, east and northeast of Lamoille, are three German churches. The oldest is the German Evangelical, which was organized about 1850. In 1843, Mr. John Fauble settled in this locality, and for many years his church was house and home, to those professing this faith, who desired to find new homes in the West. In 1846,
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2006