Middletown, founded in 1832, is the oldest town in Logan County. However, it was not incorporated until 1900.
At one time, Middletown was considered as a location for the capital of Illinois. Middletown was a frequent overnight stop for legislators traveling between Springfield and Peoria in the mid-to-late 19th century. The Stage Coach Inn, located off the town square, is the oldest such wooden structure in Illinois. It is believed that Abraham Lincoln stayed at the Inn. Unfortunately, official records were destroyed in a fire many years ago.
The town does have at least one official and verified link to Abe Lincoln as he surveyed the site which would become the town during his early days surveying in Logan County.
Passages that mention Middletown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Logan County Illinois1911 · page 95Read the page →
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Jacksonville to the new capital. From thence, Mr. Webster’s party proceeded to Peoria and from Peoria to Chicago. All this trip throughout Illinois was made by stage, it being before the day of railroads. The route was through the village of Middletown, which had been laid out five years previous. Just as the stage was leaving Middletown, an accident happened to the vehicle and a delay of several hours was necessary to make repairs. Soon Mr. Webster’s identity became known, and
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History of Logan County Illinois1911 · page 526Read the page →
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MiIppLETOWN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: The First Presbyterian Church organization of Middletown is not only the oldest Presbyterian organization in the county but one of the oldest continuous church organizations of any denomination in the county. Middletown is the oldest town in the county, having been platted in 1832 and in 1835 a Presbyterian society was organized and a brick church building erected. In this structure the society held services until about 1867, when the depletion of members, by death and removal, caused the congregation to select a site
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History of Logan County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages, and towns, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent person, and biographies of representative citizens1886 · page 466Read the page →
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our subject attended the academy. When about fifteen years of age he began clerking in a dry-goods store at St. Catherines, Canada. He followed clerking till 1846, when he came to Illinois and located at Middletown, where he was engaged one year in farming. In 1847 he entered the store of Colbey Knapp, at Middletown, where he clerked till 1850. He then went to California, clerking in a dry-goods store in Sacramento about three months, when he rented a ranch and farmed one year. In 1852 he took a contract to
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History of Logan County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages, and towns, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent person, and biographies of representative citizens1886 · page 655Read the page →
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Corwin was first organized under the name of Middletown, which name was dropped a year or two later. The officers who have been elected each year since 1867, the date of Middletown's organization, with the exception of 1868 and 1871, have been as follows: 1867— Supervisor, Daniel G. Evans; Clerk, Joshua A. Gauer; Assessor, John T. Bryan; Collector, William C.McMasters; Highway Commissioners, John Stollard, Jacob Isonhart and Alfred S.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Middletown, 1832 to 1948
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 (1), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
2026
