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History · Hecker

Hecker dates to 1840, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1900.

1840founded
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Hecker began

When was Hecker founded?

1840

Hecker dates its founding to 1840 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 200 in 19002020 census: 429186 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1854.The full story ↓

What stands out about Hecker’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 Hecker are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19125 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1990. Watch Hecker change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1840: 186 years of Hecker.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hecker’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hecker’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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On the map

Hecker on the map, 1912 to 1990

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

Hecker on the 1912 USGS mapHecker on the 1954 USGS mapHecker on the 1968 USGS mapHecker on the 1974 USGS mapHecker on the 1990 USGS map1912New Athens 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 Hecker.

Timeline

Hecker, 1840 to 1912

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840
    FoundingHecker is established
  3. 1854Post officeThe Hecker post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Hecker came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hecker.

Read it all →

Hecker was originally named "Freedom". The town was laid out on land of Theodore Hilgard. It was platted and surveyed by Thomas Singleton, county surveyor, December 18, 1840, the first home being built in 1849. In 1895 the citizens of what was then Freedom decided to incorporate, to facilitate improvements to the nascent town's infrastructure. Due to complaints from the Post Office, there being another town calling itself Freedom in Illinois, they were forced to change the name. Friedrich Franz Karl Hecker, a former German revolutionary, orator, and American Civil War colonel, whose farm was near Summerfield in adjacent St. Clair County, was known to and well respected by the town's inhabitants, and they decided to honor him by naming the town after him.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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People over time

Hecker, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 534

Between 159 and 534 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Hecker

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

See all →
Sandra MagnusAmerican astronaut · b. 1964
Buddy EbsenAmerican actor and dancer · b. 1908
Lea DeLariaAmerican actor, comedian and singer · b. 1958
J
John Carl BuechlerAmerican director · b. 1952
Darius MilesAmerican basketball player · b. 1981
Whitey HerzogAmerican baseball player and manager · b. 1931

Questions about Hecker’s history

What year was Hecker founded?

In 1840, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hecker’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1900 counted 200 people here.

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, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.