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History · Millington

Millington’s post office opened in 1872, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1880.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Millington began

When was Millington founded?

1872

The Millington post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mellington (1861), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 255 in 18802020 census: 617154 years
Founding year: the first Millington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Millington’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Millington are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1890 and 1930, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Millington’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Millington, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020301 in 1890Low: 208

Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1930, then more than doubled.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Millington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Millington.

Read it all →

In the fall of 1834 the nucleus of the village was begun when George Markley and Samuel Jackson staked out the first claim and built a log cabin on the river bank near the house where Sam Adams now lives(408 Church St.). They claimed some 600 acres on both sides of the river and the next spring the dam to furnish waterpower for a sawmill which was also begun in 1835. The mill was located on the south side of the river.

Samuel Jackson came from Pennsylvania. A loyal Democrat, he supported the presidential campaign of Andrew Jackson with such vigor that he wore the nickname of “General” for the rest of his life. He was a member of the County Commissioners Court of Kendall County when the new court buildings were built. He married Eunice Tubbs.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Millington, 1861 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861Post officeThe Mellington post office opens
  3. 1872Post officeThe Mellington post office closes
  4. 1872Post officeThe Millington post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1908Born hereTommy Luther is born here
  7. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 665
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Millington on the map, 1948 to 1971

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

Millington on the 1948 USGS mapMillington on the 1950 USGS mapMillington on the 1971 USGS map1948Sandwich 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 Millington.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Millington’s post office has been open since 1872. Another post office, Mellington, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mellington
1861–1872
Millington
1872–today
18601940today
1cemetery inside Millington
Millington Newark

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Northville TownshipIts storyCFox TownshipIts storyCMission Township2 historic placesA

Questions about Millington’s history

What year was Millington founded?

The Millington post office opened in 1872, 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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.