Morrison’s post office opened in 1857, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns · #137 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 53 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Morrison post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Morrison’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Morrison is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #137 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Morrison’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Morrison’s 144 sits above most of its state (95% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 54 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Morrison’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Morrison, building by building, 1884–1912
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1854, Lyman Johnson and H. S. Vroom were already in what would become the City of Morrison as contractors and builders for the Air-line railroad, now the Union Pacific Railroad. Johnson and Vroom, along with several other entrepreneurs, acquired the land that would surround the rail station that was planned here. They managed the work of surveyor W.S. Wilkinson in the layout of the future town in 1855. Among these entrepreneurs was W.H. Van Epps. Lyman Johnson decided to call the town Morrison, in honor of Charles Morrison, a friend of Van Epps and a wealthy merchant from New York, who promised financial support in the way of loans for the town's development. Shortly thereafter, Morrison suffered severe financial losses and he was unable to participate, yet his name remained.
Passages that mention Morrison, cut from the printed page as they were published.
1877 history of whiteside county illinois1877 · page 308Read the page →
Read the text
Morrison was incorporated in the spring of 1857. he records pertaining to the incorporation are copied in full, as follows: “ Notice: The residents of lawful age of the town of Morrison, Illinois, will meet at Johnson's Hall on Saturday, April 18th, at 4 o'clock P. m., to consider whether the said town shall be incorporated under the statutes in such cases made and provided. A full attendanee is requested." Signed by Wm. L. Coe, April 8, 1857, with a certificate appended that five copies of the * notiee" had been posted in five conspicuous places.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Whiteside county, Illinois, from its first settlement to the present time1877Read the page →
Read the text
Morrison was incorporated in the spring of 1857. The records pertaining to the incorporation are copied in full, as follows: '■^Notice: The residents of lawful age of the town of Morrison, Illinois, will meet at Johnson's Hall on Saturday, April 18th, at 4 o'clock p. M., to consider whether the said town shall be incorporated under the statutes in such cases made and provided. A full attendance is requested." Signed by Wm. L. Coe, April 8, 1857, with a certificate appended that five copies of the " notice" had been posted in five conspicuous places.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
1877 history of whiteside county illinois1877 · page 310Read the page →
Read the text
The Legislature of the State, in session in 1867, passed a bill incorporating the “City of Morrison.” — In the description of the location, range four was by some means substituted for range five, thus locating the “City of Morrison” in Union Grove instead of Mount Pleasant township. An election was however held under the “Charter,” and two tickets put in the field, the issue being “Charter” and “Anti-Charter.” The “Anti-Charter” ticket was elected by a large majority, and the anomaly of a Board of City Officers was presented working under a charter in opposition to which they had been elected; but the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Whiteside county, Illinois, from its first settlement to the present time1877Read the page →
Read the text
The original proprietors of the town of Morrison were men of enterprise and business sagacity, and Mr. Johnson by liberal dealing and good management secured the location of the railway station where it now is, and the future of Morrison was then assured.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Morrison, 1857 to 1962
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Morrison post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Morrison rank for history?
Morrison is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #137 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Morrison?
Two places: the Odell Building (listed 1996) and the Morrison Main Street Historic District (2014).
How old are the homes in Morrison?
34% of Morrison’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1958.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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), 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.
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