History · Colona

Colona’s post office opened in 1906

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #692 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Colona was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Below: maps from 1937 on and the census since 1910.

1906first post office

0on the National Register

7%homes built before 1940

1famous people

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Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0

Quick answers

How Colona began

When was Colona founded?

1906

The Colona post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Colona Station (1855), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 217 in 19102020 census: 5,045120 years

How historic is Colona?

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Colona post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

History grade

What drives Colona’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Colona is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #692 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Colona’s overall grade.

Founding era1906, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsD Homes built before 19407.1% of homes (±5.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C⁺National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 14%

NewerOlder

Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 10%

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Colona’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Colona’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 Colona are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Colona’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Colona’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

The story so far

Colona, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Colona yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Colona is a city in Henry County, Illinois, along the Green River. It is part of the Quad Cities metropolitan area. The population was 5,045 at the 2020 Census. The City of Colona was created in 1997 by the merger of the former City of Green Rock and the former Village of Colona. It was the first community in Illinois to merge by popular vote.

Its first post office opened in 1906. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 5,099 in 2010, 5,045 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Colona, 1877–1885

Passages that mention Colona, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Brandenburg, from Ohio, and located on Section 6, in the Township of Hanna, on land now owned by Thomas Hill. Later in the same year he moved and settled on the southeast quarter of Section 1, in the Township of Colona, where in October, 1836, in company with Mark M. Atkinson, he laid out the Town … — **History of Henry county, Illinois**1877 · page 556Read the page →
Read the text
Brandenburg, from Ohio, and located on Section 6, in the Township of Hanna, on land now owned by Thomas Hill. Later in the same year he moved and settled on the southeast quarter of Section 1, in the Township of Colona, where in October, 1836, in company with Mark M. Atkinson, he laid out the Town of Dayton, where he yet resides. Here he erected a log house, into which he moved on Christmas day, 1835, and opened it to the public as a tavern, and which was for years after known throughout the entire state as " Brandenburg's Tavern," and an important stage
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

**The history of Henry County, Illinois**1877 · page 556Read the page →
Read the text
Withrow. Journeying along on horse-back they traveled over nearly the entire territory now within the bounds of Henry County. At this time they found the family of Dr. Thomas Baker, living on Section 16, near the mouth of Green River, in what is now the Township of Colona, and at
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

August, 1855, he made his way to Coaltown,in Rock Island County. He was occupied in mining there a year and came to Henry County. He again engaged in mining at Minersville, in the township of Colona, and was engaged in that business about six months. At the end of that time he went to the city of P… — **Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Illinois**1885 · page 252Read the page →
Read the text
August, 1855, he made his way to Coaltown,in Rock Island County. He was occupied in mining there a year and came to Henry County. He again engaged in mining at Minersville, in the township of Colona, and was engaged in that business about six months. At the end of that time he went to the city of Pittsburg, Pa. ; entered the mines at that place and soon afterward sustained severe injuries from being burned
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Colona, 1855 to 1947

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

19th century
1855Post officeThe Colona Station post office opens
20th century
1906Post officeThe Colona Station post office closes
1906Post officeThe Colona post office opens
1937On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1947Born hereJimmy Johnson is born here

By decade

Colona, decade by decade

Today3 recent

2026Colona Illinois Public Library

2023Colona, Illinois

2006ILMap-doton-Colona

On the map

Colona on the map, 1937 to 1992

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

1937Orion 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 Colona.

People over time

Colona, census by census

Between 211 and 5,173 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Colona’s post office has been open since 1906. Another post office, Colona Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Colona Station

1855–1906

Colona

1906–today

18501940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Green Rock

Gone or out of use

Green Rock Post Officepost office

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.

Edford TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Hanna TownshipIts storyC⁻

Questions about Colona’s history

What year was Colona founded?

The Colona post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Colona rank for history?

Colona is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #692 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Colona?

7% of Colona’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1965.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.

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