The future site of Hume was most likely part of the Illinois Confederation in the Pre-Columbian period. White settlers of the 19th century in the area reported relationships with Kickapoo peoples.
In the early 19th century, the area of Illinois including the future site of the Village of Hume and the Young America Township was prairie and thus considered unsuitable for settlement or tillage. Land speculators bought local land from the government (known as "entering land") on the hope that it would become possible to cultivate it in the near future. Large herds of cattle often grazed on the open land during this period.
Hume, as his authority is the highest, is entitled to the first place amongst the modern detractors of Raleigh. The besetting sin of this delightful historian was indolence, and in the instance before us it has conducted him into an extraordinary tissue of blunders. He has unhesitatingly pronounced Raleigh guilty of the treason laid to his charge in 1603; and yet it will scarcely be believed, that so slightly has he examined the subject, that he confounds two things which were perfectly
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The history of Edgar County, Illinois1879 · page 523Read the page →
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Four stores, two or three shops of various kinds, one hotel, the post office, the depot and warehouse comprise the business part of Hume. It is an excellent shipping point for grain and stock, two or three firms being engaged in that business. Mr. Hume informed us that over one hundred thousand bushels of corn are annually sent from here, while oats and rye are shipped in paying
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The History of Edgar County, Illinois, containing a history of the county--its cities, towns, &c.1879Read the page →
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Four stores, two or three shops of various kinds, one hotel, the post office, the depot and warehouse comprise the business part of Hume. It is an excel¬ lent shipping point for grain and stock, two or three firms being engaged in that business. Mr. Hume informed us that over one hundred thousand bushels of corn are annually sent from here, while oats and rye are shipped in paying
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Hume, 1873 to 1956
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hume. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1956Newman 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 Hume.
Every building
Hume, building by building, 1899–1909
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
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 (9), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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