Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lebanon Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Downtown Lebanon, ILPhoto: Xing979 at en.wikipedia · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Lebanon Township

Lebanon Township’s post office opened in 1819, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1938 on.

1819first post office
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lebanon Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lebanon Township began

When was Lebanon Township founded?

1819

The Lebanon Township post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 4,933207 years
Founding year: the first Lebanon Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lebanon 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.Deep rootsA post office since 1819: 207 years of Lebanon Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lebanon Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lebanon Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewIllinois - Kankakee through Lebanon: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Lebanon Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lebanon Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Lebanon is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,691 at the 2020 census It is a part of the Metro East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Lebanon is home to McKendree University, the oldest college in Illinois.

Its first post office opened in 1819. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,538 to 4,933 (+9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Lebanon Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s2 items
Illinois - Kankakee through Lebanon1938Illinois - Kankakee through LebanonIllinois - Kankakee through Lebanon1938Illinois - Kankakee through Lebanon
1940s–1960snothing 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
1970s1 item
Dave Lar MOOG Stonehenge1977Dave Lar MOOG Stonehenge
1980s–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
Today1 recent
Downtown Lebanon, IL2006Downtown Lebanon, IL
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.

Illinois - Kankakee through Lebanon
Retake this viewIllinois - Kankakee through Lebanon, 1938

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Lebanon Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Flying L AirportairportNeis SchoolschoolNorth Grove SchoolschoolPleasant Valley Schoolschool
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lebanon Township
BadsbyBartonBryanPadfieldSaint Joseph CatholicSummerfieldWittmer

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.

O'Fallon Township2 historic placesBMascoutah Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSt. Jacob TownshipIts storyCSugar Creek Township1 historic placeB−

Questions about Lebanon Township’s history

What year was Lebanon Township founded?

The Lebanon Township post office opened in 1819, 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 (1) 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.