Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Scales Mound

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Scales Mound

Scales Mound dates to 1853, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 184 buildings. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1880.

1853founded
1on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Scales Mound began

When was Scales Mound founded?

1853

Scales Mound dates its founding to 1853 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 311 in 18802020 census: 436173 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1854.The full story ↓

What stands out about Scales Mound’s past

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

A historic districtThe Scales Mound Historic District takes in 184 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Scales Mound are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Scales Mound’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 184 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
184
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Scales Mound Historic District
Scales Mound Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Queen Anne1
Stick/Eastlake1
Scales Mound Historic DistrictGreek Revival

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

Help out

Start Scales Mound’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Scales Mound’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
The story

How Scales Mound came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Scales Mound.

Read it all →

The original town of Scales Mound was located at the base of an erosional remnant similar to Charles Mound, about a mile southwest of the present-day village. In 1830 Samuel Scales purchased the original village site from John Sole and built a tavern at the base of the mound along Sucker Trail, a major east–west corridor. The land that the present-day village of Scales Mound is on was purchased from the U.S. government in 1848 by a man named Dunning. Little is known about Dunning or the use of the land until the 1850s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Scales Mound, 1853 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853
    FoundingScales Mound is established
  3. 1854Post officeThe Scales Mound post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1935Born hereBill Heller is born here
  6. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Scales Mound, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Scales Mound IL U.S. Post Office12008Scales Mound IL U.S. Post Office1Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 42008Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 4Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 32008Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 3Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 22008Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 2Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 12008Gidonb Scales Mound winter landscape 1Gidonb Scales Mound Main Street2008Gidonb Scales Mound Main StreetGidonb Scales Mound Franklin Street2008Gidonb Scales Mound Franklin StreetILMap-doton-ScalesMound2005ILMap-doton-ScalesMound
On the map

Scales Mound on the map, 1968 to 1984

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

Scales Mound on the 1968 USGS mapScales Mound on the 1984 USGS map1968Scales Mound West sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Scales Mound.

People over time

Scales Mound, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 436

Between 311 and 436 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Scales Mound’s history

What year was Scales Mound founded?

In 1853, according to Wikidata. Scales Mound’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1880 counted 311 people here.

What is on the National Register in Scales Mound?

One place: the Scales Mound Historic District (listed 1990).

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 (8), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.