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History · Lisbon

Lisbon’s post office opened in 1836, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1880.

1836first post office

0on the National Register

32%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

2famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Lisbon’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Lisbon began

When was Lisbon founded?

1836

The Lisbon post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 216 in 18802020 census: 271190 years

Founding year: the first Lisbon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lisbon’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.On the map since 18925 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1993. Watch Lisbon change.Old housesHalf of Lisbon’s homes were built before 1954.Deep rootsA post office since 1836: 190 years of Lisbon.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lisbon’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2 Retake an old viewCongregational Church: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Lisbon on the map, 1892 to 1993

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

1892Morris 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 Lisbon.

The story so far

Lisbon, in brief

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

Lisbon is a village in Kendall County, Illinois, United States. The population was 271 at the 2020 census. The community was established in 1836 with a log tavern and a highway connecting Joliet to Chicago Road. This led to the addition of a post office, an enterprise, and a schoolhouse. The town became part of Kendall County in 1841. John Moore is credited with naming Lisbon Township after Lisbon, Portugal. According to Joseph R. Adams in the May 28, 1896, edition of the Kendall County News, "Though ten miles from a railroad, the villagers appear not wanting. They appear to be living better and happier than those differently situated." Lisbon is now home to Lisbon Consolidated School, the …

Its first post office opened in 1836. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 285 to 271 (-5%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Lisbon in 1877

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

There it turns, where there is a jog in the road, at a point opposite to where the south boundary strikes the Kankakee, and goes nearer west, crossing Lisbon creek four times, in the town of Lisbon, passing a few rods south of the red school house, in the town of Big Grove, through Apakesha grove, … — **History of Kendall county, Illinois, from the earliest discoveries to the present time**1877 · page 34Read the page →
Read the text
There it turns, where there is a jog in the road, at a point opposite to where the south boundary strikes the Kankakee, and goes nearer west, crossing Lisbon creek four times, in the town of Lisbon, passing a few rods south of the red school house, in the town of Big Grove, through Apakesha grove, and out of the county, eighty rods north of Holderman's grove. It strikes Fox river
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

No additional settlements were made in the town of Lisbon. At Piatt's, two men died and were buried on the banks of the AuSable. Two saw mills were started — Schneider's at Bristol, and Morgan's in Oswego — but not in time to do much that season. Fielding and Marshall Havenhill and Mr. Booth hauled… — **History of Kendall county, Illinois, from the earliest discoveries to the present time**1877 · page 132Read the page →
Read the text
No additional settlements were made in the town of Lisbon. At Piatt's, two men died and were buried on the banks of the AuSable. Two saw mills were started — Schneider's at Bristol, and Morgan's in Oswego — but not in time to do much that season. Fielding and Marshall Havenhill and Mr. Booth hauled logs to the mill at Munsontown, on Big Indian Creek, to get lumber for cabin floors. Up to that time their floors had been the
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

Lisbon, 1836 to 1953

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

19th century
1836Post officeThe Lisbon post office opens
1850Born hereMary Rippon is born here
1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1953Post officeThe Lisbon post office closes

By decade

Lisbon, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date

Date?Congregational Church

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.

Retake this viewCongregational Church

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

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Lisbon, census by census

Between 145 and 285 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Lisbon

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Mary RipponAmerican professor · b. 1850

John DwyerAmerican baseball player

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Lisbon had its own post office from 1836 to 1953.

Lisbon

1836–1953

18301930today

1cemetery inside Lisbon

Munger

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

Questions about Lisbon’s history

What year was Lisbon founded?

The Lisbon post office opened in 1836, 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 the Library of Congress (1), 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.

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