Most of Laona Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 6 buildings. Below: maps from 1932 on.
The Laona Township post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Cleveland (1840) and Laona (1848), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,242178 years
How historic is Laona Township?
B
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Laona Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Laona Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Laona Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Laona Township’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 Laona Township’s 44.7 sits above most of its state (90% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size. 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 Laona Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Cleveland
1840–1847
Laona
1848–1877
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lake Summerset
Gone or out of use
Cleveland SchoolschoolDolan SchoolschoolFenton SchoolschoolGilman SchoolschoolLaona Center SchoolschoolLaona Post Officepost officePutman SchoolschoolRaymond E Laube Airportairport
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Laona Township
FenlonHalvorsonHanfordLaona TownshipNorth Rock Run
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Laona Township, 1840 to 1932
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Laona Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Laona Township is located in Winnebago County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,250 and contained 707 housing units. The township includes part of the census-designated place of Lake Summerset.
Its first post office opened in 1848. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,250 in 2010, 1,242 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Laona Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1932Pecatonica 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 Laona Township.
On the National Register
1 listing protects 6 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Laona Township post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Laona Township rank for history?
Laona Township is more historic than 56% 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.
What is on the National Register in Laona Township?
One place: the Christenson-Anderson Farm (listed 2022).
How old are the homes in Laona Township?
0.0% of Laona Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
