Founding year: the first Maroa post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Maroa’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Maroa is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Maroa’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Maroa’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Maroa’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first settler of the township was James Pettyjohn, who came from Kentucky and settled in 1839. The next group of settlers came from Ohio, Indiana, and Tennessee. The first schoolhouse was built in 1852. Maroa at one time was the second largest township, besides county seat Decatur, as it sat at the junction of both the Illinois Central Railroad and the Midland Railroad Company.
Maroa was officially incorporated as a town on March 7, 1867.
Passages that mention Maroa, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Centennial history of Decatur and Macon county1930Read the page →
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After the Illinois Central railroad was built through the township, the town of Maroa was laid out by the Associated Land company, and the railroad company platted an addition known as the Railroad addition to Maroa. In 1854 a passenger depot was erected and John Crocker became the first agent, continuing in the position until 1866.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Macon County, Illinois1880 · page 74Read the page →
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The first school-house in Maroa township, now standing, was built about two miles west of the village of Maroa, and known as Dist. one. Mr. Alvin Woodard was the first teacher.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Macon County, Illinois, from its organization to 18761876 · page 227Read the page →
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In the same year the first school house was erected in Maroa, and Robert Collins was the first school teacher. The present Maroa school house was erected in 1S66, at a cost of $7,000, and furnishes accommodations for 200 pupils.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centennial history of Decatur and Macon county1930Read the page →
Read the text
Maroa was named in a unique manner, according to John Crocker, whose grandfather was the first station agent at Maroa and came there before the town was built. The name was made up out of
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
Maroa, 1855 to 1981
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Maroa post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Maroa rank for history?
Maroa is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Maroa?
24% of Maroa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1968.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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2015