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Mendota, IllinoisPhoto: David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA · CC BY 2.0
–Not graded
History · Mendota Township

Mendota Township’s post office opened in 1853, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1860.

1853first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mendota Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mendota Township began

When was Mendota Township founded?

1853

The Mendota Township post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1855.

First census: 1,934 in 18602020 census: 7,207173 years
Founding year: the first Mendota Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1855.The full story ↓

What stands out about Mendota Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Mendota Township’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · The story

How Mendota Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mendota Township.

Read it all →

In summer of 1853, the Illinois Central Railroad was completed and crossed the existing Chicago and Aurora Railroad. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad completed the crossing at the present site of Mendota. By the following year, the population had grown to more than 1,000 and the town was home to saloons, hotels, and various shops. The town was incorporated as a village in 1855 and reincorporated as a town in 1859. By 1860, the town was also home to churches of 5 denominations.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mendota Township, 1876 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876In the archiveAtlas of LaSalle Co., and the state of Illinois: to which is added an atlas of the United…
  3. 1889In the archiveMendotaDepot
  4. 20th century
  5. 1933In the archiveHABS ILL,50-MEND,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Octagon House
  6. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Mendota Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1880s2 items
Atlas of LaSalle Co., and the state of Illinois: to which is added an atlas of the United States, maps of the hemispher…1876Atlas of LaSalle Co., and the state of Illinois: to w…MapMendotaDepot1889MendotaDepot
1890s–1920snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1930s4 items
HABS ILL,50-MEND,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Octagon House1933HABS ILL,50-MEND,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Octagon HouseHABS ILL,50-MEND,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Octagon House1933HABS ILL,50-MEND,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Octagon HouseHABS ILL,50-MEND,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Octagon House1933HABS ILL,50-MEND,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Octagon HouseHABS ILL,50-MEND,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Octagon House1933HABS ILL,50-MEND,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Octagon House
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Mendota Township on the map, 1952 to 1993

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

Mendota Township on the 1952 USGS mapMendota Township on the 1982 USGS mapMendota Township on the 1993 USGS map1952Mendota 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 Mendota Township.

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.

MendotaDepot
Retake this viewMendotaDepot, 1889

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Mendota Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,000190019502000Peak: 7,372

Between 1,934 and 7,372 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Welland
Gone or out of use
Gorman SchoolschoolSchlesinger Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Mendota Township
Worsley

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Mendota Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMendotaDepot: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Troy Grove TownshipIts storyB+Meriden TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMendotaIts storyC+Clarion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrooklyn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mendota Township’s history

What year was Mendota Township founded?

The Mendota Township post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1855.

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.