Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mason yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Mason is an incorporated town in Effingham County, Illinois, United States. The population was 323 at the 2020 census. It was named after Roswell Mason, an official of the Illinois Central Railroad. Mason is part of the Effingham, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Its first post office opened in 1857. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 345 to 323 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Mason in 1876
Passages that mention Mason, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Centennial history of Mason County, including a sketch of the early history of Illinois, its physical peculiarities, soils, climate, production, etc.1876 · page 109Read the page →
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vious to the next general election. The census was taken by a committee appointed by the Council, and an ordinance was duly passed, dividing the city into three wards, as follows : First ward lay west of Mason street and noi-th of Chestnut; the second, west of Mason street and south of Chestnut; and the third, all that portion of the city east of Mason street.
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Centennial history of Mason County, including a sketch of the early history of Illinois, its physical peculiarities, soils, climate, production, etc.1876 · page 264Read the page →
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For many years this line terminated at Petersburg, but in 1867 it was extended to Bloomington. It was opened up for service to Mason City in June, and to Bloomington on the 23d of September, in that year. It was incorporated as the Tonica and Petersburg Railroad Company, January 15, 1857. Richard Yates was the first president.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
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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 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.
