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History · Hammond

Hammond’s post office opened in 1873, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1880.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Dual Freq · CC BY 2.5
Quick answers

How Hammond began

When was Hammond founded?

1873

The Hammond post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 216 in 18802020 census: 508153 years
Founding year: the first Hammond post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hammond’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Hammond’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hammond’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHammond, Illinois. Switchman riding a c…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Hammond came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hammond.

Read it all →

Hammond was named for Charles Goodrich Hammond, a railroad official.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Hammond in 1883

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

Hammond had the first tow-mill that we have heard of in the county. It was begun by G. W. Folkerth, but is now owned by Davis & Finney. of Tuscola, and the Kiser Brothers, of Hammond. Monticello has followed the example set by Hammond, and also has a tow-mill. Hammond has a very neat and attractive…
History of Piatt County1883 · page 405Read the page →
Read the text

Hammond had the first tow-mill that we have heard of in the county. It was begun by G. W. Folkerth, but is now owned by Davis & Finney. of Tuscola, and the Kiser Brothers, of Hammond. Monticello has followed the example set by Hammond, and also has a tow-mill. Hammond has a very neat and attractive school building, erected in 1882, of which the people are justly proud.

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

Hammond, 1873 to 1955

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Hammond post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1942In the archiveHammond, Illinois. Switchman riding a car in an Illinois Central Railroad classification …
  5. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hammond, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Hammond, Illinois. Switchman riding a car in an Illinois Central Railroad classification yard1942Hammond, Illinois. Switchman riding a car in an Illin…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Hammond Illinois Water Tower2007Hammond Illinois Water TowerHammond Illinois Water Tower cropped2007Hammond Illinois Water Tower croppedHammond Illinois Post Office2007Hammond Illinois Post OfficeCHICAGO SKYWAY W SILOS & RR2007CHICAGO SKYWAY W SILOS & RR
On the map

Hammond on the map, 1955 to 1998

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

Hammond on the 1955 USGS mapHammond on the 1975 USGS mapHammond on the 1983 USGS mapHammond on the 1998 USGS map1955Bement 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 Hammond.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hammond, Illinois. Switchman riding a car in an Illinois Central Railroad classification yard
Retake this viewHammond, Illinois. Switchman riding a car in an Illinois Central Railroad classification yard, 1942

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hammond’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Hammond, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 556

Between 216 and 556 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Hammond

Nobody well known was born in Hammond itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Henry GleasonAmerican ecologist · b. 1882
M
Melbourne Armstrong CarrikerAmerican ornithologist and entomologist · b. 1879
Wesley Livsey JonesAmerican politician · b. 1863
M
Margery C. CarlsonU.S. botanist and conservationist · b. 1892
Kenneth L. WilsonAmerican discus thrower, college athletics admi… · b. 1896
Hugh M. RigneyAmerican politician · b. 1873

Questions about Hammond’s history

What year was Hammond founded?

The Hammond post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (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.