Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Littleton

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
–Not graded
History · Littleton

Littleton’s post office opened in 1849, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1923 on and the census since 1920.

1849first post office
0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Littleton began

When was Littleton founded?

1849

The Littleton post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 300 in 19202020 census: 139177 years
Founding year: the first Littleton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Littleton’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 Littleton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Littleton.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Littleton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Littleton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Littleton.

Read it all →

James Little and his son-in-law William Window were the original promoters of the town. Window built the first house in 1847 and became the town's first postmaster that same year. On October 26, 1856 Littleton was hit by a destructive tornado, setting back development. Littleton's economy was largely agricultural based until the turn of the century. The town served as the southern terminus of the now defunct Macomb and Western Illinois Railway from 1904-1930.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.
Add from your album
On the map

Littleton on the map, 1923 to 1981

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

Littleton on the 1923 USGS mapLittleton on the 1981 USGS map1923Rushville 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 Littleton.

People over time

Littleton, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 300

Between 139 and 300 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Littleton

Nobody well known was born in Littleton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Wesley Clair MitchellAmerican statistician · b. 1874
John Calhoun PhillipsAmerican politician · b. 1870
Francis M. DrakeAmerican soldier, businessman and politician · b. 1830
E. W. ScrippsAmerican newspaper publisher · b. 1854
H
Helen West HellerAmerican painter, sculptor · b. 1872
Eliza R. SunderlandAmerican writer, educator, lecturer, and women'… · b. 1839

Questions about Littleton’s history

What year was Littleton founded?

The Littleton post office opened in 1849, 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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.