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History · Leland

Leland’s post office opened in 1857, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1880.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Leland began

When was Leland founded?

1857

The Leland post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 653 in 18802020 census: 951169 years
Founding year: the first Leland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Leland’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Leland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Leland’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leland’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Leland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Leland.

Read it all →

A post office called Leland has been in operation since 1857. The village was named for John Leland Adams, the Postmaster.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Leland in 1877

Passages that mention Leland, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Sketch of Settlers — Adams. 455 Quincy Railroad passes northeastwardly across the north side of the town, and Leland Station is a thriving village. The first settlement was in 1836, but the settlements were few, and scattered, till the advent of the railroad, atter which the town rapidly filled up.
History of LaSalle County, Illinois1877 · page 455Read the page →
Read the text

Sketch of Settlers — Adams. 455 Quincy Railroad passes northeastwardly across the north side of the town, and Leland Station is a thriving village. The first settlement was in 1836, but the settlements were few, and scattered, till the advent of the railroad, atter which the town rapidly filled up.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Leland was surveyed and the town plat reconied in 185%, and called Whitefield, and the station named Waverly, but Leland eventually became the only nume, tt was incorporated a village sn 1859.
History of LaSalle County, Illinois1877 · page 547Read the page →
Read the text

Leland was surveyed and the town plat reconied in 185%, and called Whitefield, and the station named Waverly, but Leland eventually became the only nume, tt was incorporated a village sn 1859.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Leland, 1857 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Leland post office opens
  3. 1869Born hereManley L. Fosseen is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Leland, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Who knows if there may havd been other crops advertised on this old sign near Leland, Illinois. Since it's a frigid win…2020Who knows if there may havd been other crops advertis…Wintertime sunset over the fields near Leland, Illinois2020Wintertime sunset over the fields near Leland, Illino…Wintertime sunset over the fields near Leland, Illinois2020Wintertime sunset over the fields near Leland, Illino…Wintertime farm silhouette at sunset near Leland, Illinois2020Wintertime farm silhouette at sunset near Leland, Ill…Leland, Illinois2016Leland, Illinois20140119 03 BNSF Somonauk, Illinois201420140119 03 BNSF Somonauk, Illinois20140119 01 BNSF Somonauk, Illinois201420140119 01 BNSF Somonauk, IllinoisDreaming of summer2010Dreaming of summer
On the map

Leland on the map, 1951 to 1971

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

Leland on the 1951 USGS mapLeland on the 1971 USGS map1951Earlville 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 Leland.

People over time

Leland, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 977

Between 537 and 977 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Leland’s history

What year was Leland founded?

The Leland post office opened in 1857, 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 →
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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), the Library of Congress (4), 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 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.