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B+History
History · Lacon Township

Lacon Township dates to 1831, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 69% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1850.

1831founded
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lacon Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lacon Township began

When was Lacon Township founded?

1831

Lacon Township dates its founding to 1831 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 963 in 18502020 census: 2,327195 years

How historic is Lacon Township?

B+

More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1837.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lacon Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lacon Township is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lacon Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1831, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194027.7% of homes (±6.9) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 69%
NewerOlder

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 Lacon Township’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 B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 points). Two sources give 1831.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Lacon 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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18934 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1972. Watch Lacon Township change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1831: 195 years of Lacon Township.Old housesHalf of Lacon Township’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lacon Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lacon 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 viewPhotograph with caption "Pontoon Wagon …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Lacon Township on the map, 1893 to 1972

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

Lacon Township on the 1893 USGS mapLacon Township on the 1937 USGS mapLacon Township on the 1948 USGS mapLacon Township on the 1972 USGS map1893Metamora 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 Lacon Township.

Timeline

Lacon Township, 1831 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1831
    FoundingLacon Township is established
  3. 1890In the archivePhotograph with caption "Pontoon Wagon Bridge, Lacon, ILL."
  4. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1942In the archive1942 Lacon Tornado (Cropped)
The story

How Lacon Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lacon Township.

Read it all →

Lacon was named after Laconia, a region of Greece. Lacon was established in 1831 and is the oldest town in Marshall, Putnam, Bureau, and Stark Counties. On August 6, 1831, it was laid out as the town of Columbia. The town grew in population after the Black Hawk War.

A Temperance Society was formed July 28, 1836. A Presbyterian Church organized in 1837. A post-office was established in 1837. A newspaper called The Lacon Herald published in December 1837. The name changed from Columbia to Lacon on January 19, 1837. The town expanded with a purchase of an addition on July 3, 1837.

The Marshall County Courthouse was built in 1840 and a county jail in 1844. On June 27, 1842, President Martin Van Buren paid a brief visit to the town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Lacon Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Photograph with caption "Pontoon Wagon Bridge, Lacon, ILL."1890Photograph with caption "Pontoon Wagon Bridge, Lacon,…
1900s–1930snothing 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
1940s2 items
1942 Lacon Tornado (Cropped)19421942 Lacon Tornado (Cropped)1942 Lacon Tornado19421942 Lacon Tornado
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
Today9 recent
Marshall County Sheriff Office Lacon 20231117 00022023Marshall County Sheriff Office Lacon 20231117 0002Marshall County Sheriff Office Lacon 20231117 00012023Marshall County Sheriff Office Lacon 20231117 0001Marshall County Circuit Court Clerk Lacon 20231117 00082023Marshall County Circuit Court Clerk Lacon 20231117 00…Lacon-Sparland United Methodist Church Lacon 20231117 00042023Lacon-Sparland United Methodist Church Lacon 20231117…Lacon Congregational UCC Lacon 20231117 00092023Lacon Congregational UCC Lacon 20231117 0009Marshall County Courthouse Illinois2019Marshall County Courthouse IllinoisLacon Illinois September 20182018Lacon Illinois September 2018ILMap-doton-Lacon2007ILMap-doton-LaconLacon-street-scene-1532005Lacon-street-scene-153
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.

Photograph with caption "Pontoon Wagon Bridge, Lacon, ILL."
Retake this viewPhotograph with caption "Pontoon Wagon Bridge, Lacon, ILL.", 1890

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Lacon Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001850190019502000Peak: 2,175

Between 963 and 2,175 people in every census since 1850.

17 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Crow Creek SchoolschoolNew Salem SchoolschoolParrish RLA AirportairportSouth Lacon Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Lacon Township
Babb

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.

Steuben Township1 historic placeA−Chillicothe Township1 historic placeA−Richland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHopewell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPartridge TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHenry TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lacon Township’s history

What year was Lacon Township founded?

In 1831, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lacon Township’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1850 counted 963 people here.

How does Lacon Township rank for history?

Lacon Township is more historic than 69% 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 Lacon Township?

28% of Lacon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1963.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.