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History · Momence Township

Momence Township dates to 1846, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1922 on, and the census since 1880.

1846founded
1on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Momence Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Momence Township began

When was Momence Township founded?

1846

Momence Township dates its founding to 1846 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 1,037 in 18802020 census: 3,586180 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1849.The full story ↓

What stands out about Momence 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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Momence Township, and 11 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Momence Township’s homes were built before 1954.On the map since 19224 editions of the USGS map, 1922 to 1973. Watch Momence Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Momence Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Momence 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 view1885US-PostalCard: 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

Another post office, Illinoi, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
AhernEdgetownGarden of EdenIlliana HeightsLakeLitchfieldLog Cabin CampRiverShadow LawnWardWoodland
Gone or out of use
Ainsworth SchoolschoolChipman SchoolschoolHess SchoolschoolIllinoi SchoolschoolMiner Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Momence Township
Saint JudesShrontz

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

The story

How Momence Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Momence Township.

Read it all →

First known as "Lower Crossing", Momence was named after a local Potawatomi, Isadore Moness. Momence was first platted by Dr. Hiram Todd in 1846. It is located on the Kankakee River. In July, 1893, a crew paid for by an appropriation from the neighboring State of Indiana cut a shallow channel not quite a meter deep through a limestone ledge running just east of Momence, which had for millennia partially blocked and restricted the flow of the Kankakee River, making up to that point the Grand Kankakee Marsh, then the nation's largest inland wetland, possible. The increased river flow, while doing little for the citizens of Illinois, drained thousands of acres of Indiana wetlands, permitting them to be profitably farmed, while destroying most of the marsh.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Momence Township, 1846 to 1922

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846
    FoundingMomence Township is established
  3. 1885In the archive1885US-PostalCard
  4. 20th century
  5. 1902Post officeThe Illinoi post office opens
  6. 1904In the archiveTiffany Enameled Brick Works, Momence, Illinois 1904
  7. 1907Post officeThe Illinoi post office closes
  8. 1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Momence Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s2 items
1885US-PostalCard18851885US-PostalCardTiffany Enameled Brick Works, Momence, Illinois 19041904Tiffany Enameled Brick Works, Momence, Illinois 1904
1910s–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
Today3 recent
Momence Illinois HS2006Momence Illinois HSKankakee River at Momence2006Kankakee River at MomenceILMap-doton-Momence2006ILMap-doton-Momence
On the map

Momence Township on the map, 1922 to 1973

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

Momence Township on the 1922 USGS mapMomence Township on the 1959 USGS mapMomence Township on the 1963 USGS mapMomence Township on the 1973 USGS map1922Momence 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 Momence 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.

1885US-PostalCard
Retake this view1885US-PostalCard, 1885

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Momence Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Momence Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,310

Between 1,037 and 3,310 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Yellowhead Township1 historic placeBGaneer Township1 historic placeA

Questions about Momence Township’s history

What year was Momence Township founded?

In 1846, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Momence Township’s post office opened in 1849, and the census of 1880 counted 1,037 people here.

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 (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, 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.