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History · La Moille Township

La Moille Township’s post office opened in 1840, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1880.

1840first post office
3on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From La Moille Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How La Moille Township began

When was La Moille Township founded?

1840

The La Moille Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 488 in 18802020 census: 1,010186 years
Founding year: the first La Moille Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about La Moille Township’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 La Moille Township’s homes were built before 1948.Deep rootsA post office since 1840: 186 years of La Moille Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start La Moille Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how La Moille Township’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 viewMoilledt: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How La Moille Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of La Moille Township.

Read it all →

La Moille was first settled in 1830 by Daniel Dimmick, who went on to found Dimmick, Illinois after the Blackhawk War. The village was originally named Greenfield when platted, but was soon after changed to La Moille. In 1870, an extension of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad began passenger and freight service between Mendota, IL and Fulton, IL.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

La Moille Township, 1872 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Van Orin post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archiveMoilledt
  5. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

La Moille Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Moilledt1900Moilledt
1910s–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
Today3 recent
Image First Congregational Church2015Image First Congregational ChurchImage Allen School2015Image Allen SchoolEast End Illinois Route 92 La Moille2013East End Illinois Route 92 La Moille
On the map

La Moille Township on the map, 1951 to 1982

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

La Moille Township on the 1951 USGS mapLa Moille Township on the 1982 USGS map1951Amboy 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 La Moille Township.

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.

Moilledt
Retake this viewMoilledt, 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in La Moille Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

La Moille Township, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 773

Between 488 and 773 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Van Orin
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside La Moille Township
North PrairieUnionVan Orin Repose

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Clarion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBerlin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOhio TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMay TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLa Moille3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about La Moille Township’s history

What year was La Moille Township founded?

The La Moille Township post office opened in 1840, 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), Wikidata (2), 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.