Founding year: the first Harristown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Harristown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harristown is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Harristown’s overall grade.
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 Harristown’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 C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.4 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 Harristown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The village was named in honor of Major Thomas L. Harris, who was elected and served as Major of the Fourth Illinois Regiment in the Mexican–American War, and who was afterward a member of Congress from 1849 to 1858.
The first settlers arrived in 1828 and began building log cabins and improving land around the area. 1841 saw the building of the township's first schoolhouse, a log building, and served as both the school and as a place of worship until 1853 when the first church was built. Harristown was along the main line of the Wabash Railroad, which contributed to increased population and business.
Passages that mention Harristown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Centennial history of Decatur and Macon county1930 · page 431Read the page →
Read the text
After the Wabash railroad was built through the township, the village of Harristown was laid out. It was platted in 1856 by Jerden Burkey in Sections 9 and 10. The first house in the village was built by Jacob I. Hobbs in 1856. The first postmaster was David Masters. The first store was opened by Samuel Cox in 1859. The first blacksmith was H. C. Masters. Summit lodge, No. 431, A. F, and A. M., was chartered Oct. 4, 1865.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centennial history of Decatur and Macon county1930 · page 95Read the page →
Read the text
Harristown was named after Major Thomas Harris, who served in the Mexican war. The Macon county men in that war were in his regiment. The village of Harristown first had been called Summit, but the name was changed because there already was a Summit in the state, located in Cook county.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 18b ■ a church, which originally stood a few miles south east of the town, was moved across the prairie and located in Harristown. Tfits was the first church Harristown had within her limits, "fie, however, was without a preacher until 1864, when the Rev. A*. S. Bastian located as pastor. Dr. Greeley was the earliest physician who came to Harristown to practice. H. C. Masters was the first blacksmith in the place.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Macon County, Illinois1880 · page 74Read the page →
Read the text
The first school-house in Harristown township was erected in 1829, on Mr. James Miller’s land, just south of Mr. Charles Hunsley’s, in the timber.
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
Harristown, 1858 to 1954
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Harristown post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Harristown rank for history?
Harristown is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. 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 Harristown?
16% of Harristown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1961.
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 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.
