–Not graded

History · Lomax

Lomax’s post office opened in 1870, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1932 on and the census since 1880.

1870first post office

0on the National Register

21%homes built before 1940

Add an old photo Share a memory

Quick answers

How Lomax began

When was Lomax founded?

1870

The Lomax post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 63 in 18802020 census: 404156 years

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

What stands out about Lomax’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 Lomax are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 601 in 1980; 404 people lived here in 2020.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lomax’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lomax’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

People over time

Lomax, census by census

Peaked at 601 in 1980; 404 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Lomax, in brief

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

Lomax is a village in Henderson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 404 at the 2020 census, a decline from 454 in 2010 census. It is part of the Burlington, IA–IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1870. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 454 to 404 (-11%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Lomax in 1882

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

It contains about 250 inhabitants and is the center of considerable trade. It has no railroad or river facilities for shipping, Lomax station, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, being its principal point of shipment. It is the center of a rich farming country and surrounded by lands of e… — **History of Mercer County**1882 · page 890Read the page →
Read the text
It contains about 250 inhabitants and is the center of considerable trade. It has no railroad or river facilities for shipping, Lomax station, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, being its principal point of shipment. It is the center of a rich farming country and surrounded by lands of extraordinary fertility.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

lington & Quincy railroad. It was laid out by Robert Lomax, May 11, 1882, in Sec. 15, T. 8 K, E. 6 W., J. Wilson \Yilliams acting as surveyor; plat and deed recorded in Yol. I, of plats, p. 64, Henderson county. At this point there has been a railroad station and business point for many years. Prio… — **History of Mercer County**1882Read the page →
Read the text
lington & Quincy railroad. It was laid out by Robert Lomax, May 11, 1882, in Sec. 15, T. 8 K, E. 6 W., J. Wilson \Yilliams acting as surveyor; plat and deed recorded in Yol. I, of plats, p. 64, Henderson county. At this point there has been a railroad station and business point for many years. Prior to the opening of the railroad, William Lomax, the father of the present proprietor, owned and cultivated a large farm, through which the road was located and a station established at the point where the town is now laid out. The senior Lomax
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

Lomax, 1870 to 1980

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

19th century
1870Post officeThe Lomax post office opens
20th century
1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1980CensusPopulation peaks at 601

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

Lomax on the map, 1932 to 1964

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

1932Lomax 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 Lomax.

Questions about Lomax’s history

What year was Lomax founded?

The Lomax post office opened in 1870, 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 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.

Post to Lomax

Check your email