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History · Dawson

Dawson’s post office opened in 1854, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1900.

1854first post office

0on the National Register

13%homes built before 1940

1famous people

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Quick answers

How Dawson began

When was Dawson founded?

1854

The Dawson post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1883.

First census: 574 in 19002020 census: 519172 years

Founding year: the first Dawson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1883.The full story ↓

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

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Start Dawson’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dawson’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 Dawson came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dawson.

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Dawson was located along an old Indian trail that led from Clear Lake, Illinois, to Buffalo Hart, Illinois.

Dawson was laid out in 1854, when the railroad was extended to that point. The village was named after John Dawson, a member of a political group in Illinois in the 1830s led by Abraham Lincoln, that advocated moving the state capitol from Vandalia to Springfield. Dawson was incorporated in 1883.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Dawson in 1912

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

death of John H. Shankland, which occurred June 21, 1909, Sangamon County lost one of its representative citizens, a man who had done much towards building up the town of Dawson, Ill., in more than one sense. He was a veteran of the Civil War, in which he received wounds, scars from which he carrie… — **Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Sangamon County**1912 · page 1609Read the page →
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death of John H. Shankland, which occurred June 21, 1909, Sangamon County lost one of its representative citizens, a man who had done much towards building up the town of Dawson, Ill., in more than one sense. He was a veteran of the Civil War, in which he received wounds, scars from which he carried to the time of his death. John H. Shankland was born May 6,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

ROSS, Duncan (deceased).—In the death of the late Duncan Ross the village of Dawson, Il., lost a valuable and highly respected citizen. He was well known in the community and had many warm personal friends who deeply mourned his loss. He was personally acquainted with Abraham Lincoln, for whom he h… — **Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Sangamon County**1912 · page 1579Read the page →
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ROSS, Duncan (deceased).—In the death of the late Duncan Ross the village of Dawson, Il., lost a valuable and highly respected citizen. He was well known in the community and had many warm personal friends who deeply mourned his loss. He was personally acquainted with Abraham Lincoln, for whom he had a high regard.
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

Dawson, 1854 to 1954

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

19th century
1854Post officeThe Dawson post office opens
1880Born hereJohn William Miller is born here
20th century
1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

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

Dawson on the map, 1954 to 1982

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

1954Mechanicsburg 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 Dawson.

People over time

Dawson, census by census

Between 374 and 620 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Dawson’s history

What year was Dawson founded?

The Dawson post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1883.

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, 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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