Founding year: the first Oquawka post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Oquawka’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oquawka is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Oquawka’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 Oquawka’s 9.4 sits above most of its state (83% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 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 Oquawka’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Sauk and Meskwaki peoples once thrived on flatlands that gently fold into the Mississippi River. They called the area Oquawkiek, meaning “yellow banks.” White settlers arrived and kept the peace, thanks to Stephen S. Phelps, the founder of the village of Oquawka, who harbored respect for the native peoples. Phelps would befriend Abraham Lincoln, who was said to spend a lot of time visiting Oquawka. Here, long before his presidency, Lincoln supposedly met Jefferson Davis, then a faithful officer with the U.S. Army. In 1858, Lincoln made a stump speech here, as did his rival and another Phelps family friend, Stephen Douglas, the first circuit judge in this seat of Henderson County.
behold the almost magicial prosperous change in the country of their adoption. At this first meeting of the commissioners of the county, Stephen S. Phelps and Alexis Phelps, the proprietors of the town of Oquawka, in compliance with the conditions of the location of the county seat at Oquawka, as set forth in the act of the general assembly, presented to the board a deed, conveying to the county 200 town lots, of average value of the lots in the town of Oquawka, for the purpose of erecting public county buildings from the proceeds of the sale of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Sec. 2. The county seat of said county of Henderson shall be, and is hereby permanently located at the town of Oquawka, in said county of Henderson ; pvovidrd^ the pro])rietors of said town of ( )(juawka shall donate and convey to the count}' commissioners of Henderson county, (for the time being) for the use and benefit of said county in fee sim})h' not less than two hundred of the average of the unsold or unim])roved lots, in said town of Oquawka, the proceeds of the sale of said town lots, or so much thereof as may be required, shall be appropriated
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Judge John Pence and descendants, born in Shenandoah County, Virginia, January 15, 1775. Resided in Champaign County, Ohio, Bartholomew County, Indiana, and Henderson County, Illinois1912 · page 17Read the page →
Read the text
In the spring of 1828 he moved with his family to a point on Henderon Creek (sometimes known as Henderson River) about three miles northeast of where the town of Oquawka now stands, where he made his permanent residence. As has been stated heretofore, he was Justice of the Peace in Ohio in 1819, and he was Associate County Judge for six years in Bartholomew County, Indiana, being three terms, and when the County of Warren was organized in Illinois in 1830, including the territory of what is now the counties of Warren and Henderson, he was •chosen the chairman
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.
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.
The Oquawka post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Oquawka rank for history?
Oquawka is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. 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 Oquawka?
One place: the Alexis Phelps House (listed 1982).
How old are the homes in Oquawka?
19% of Oquawka’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
![Sec. 2. The county seat of said county of Henderson shall be, and is hereby permanently located at the town of Oquawka, in said county of Henderson ; pvovidrd^ the pro])rietors of said town of ( )(juawka shall donate and convey to the count}' commissioners of Henderson county, (for the time being) …](https://images.townratings.com/story/3917/bk-a1f27ab13d3a8c8c-l.jpg)
