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History · Meriden Township

Meriden Township’s post office opened in 1863, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1951 on.

1863first post office
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Meriden Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Meriden Township began

When was Meriden Township founded?

1863

The Meriden Township post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Four Mile Grove (1848) and Meriden (1863), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 271163 years
Founding year: the first Meriden Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Meriden Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Meriden Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Meriden Township’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Meriden Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view19960720 10 BNSF near: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Four Mile Grove
1848–1864
Meriden
1863–1957
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Meriden
Gone or out of use
Earlville AirportairportSmith Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Meriden Township
Four Mile GroveTripp

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Meriden Township, in brief

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

Meriden is an unincorporated community in LaSalle County, Illinois, and is located east of Mendota. The community has East 7th Street running north–south through the community, and North 44th Street making a T-intersection south of Meriden with East 7th Street. U.S. Highway 34 runs about an eighth of a mile south of Meriden. It is located in Meriden township. Township 36, Range 2, constitutes the town of Meriden. It is bounded on the north by the north line of the county, and is a prairie region, surrounded by prairie on all sides except a small grove on Sees. 5 and 6, called Four-Mile Grove. A few families pitched their tents around the little oasis in the middle of the wide prairie, in th…

Its first post office opened in 1863. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 324 to 271 (-16%).

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

Timeline

Meriden Township, 1848 to 1996

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848Post officeThe Four Mile Grove post office opens
  3. 1863Post officeThe Meriden post office opens
  4. 1864Post officeThe Four Mile Grove post office closes
  5. 1884Born hereEdward Edson Lee is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1957Post officeThe Meriden post office closes
  9. 1996In the archive19960720 10 BNSF near
By decade

Meriden Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s4 items
19960720 10 BNSF near199619960720 10 BNSF near19960720 11 BNSF near199619960720 11 BNSF near19960720 12 BNSF199619960720 12 BNSF19960720 13 BNSF199619960720 13 BNSF
On the map

Meriden Township on the map in 1951

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Meriden Township.

Meriden Township on the 1951 USGS map1951Earlville 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 Meriden Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Mendota TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEarl TownshipIts storyBMendotaIts storyC+Ophir TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWyoming Township1 historic placeA

Questions about Meriden Township’s history

What year was Meriden Township founded?

The Meriden Township post office opened in 1863, 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.