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History · Tonti Township

Tonti Township’s post office opened in 1866

Most of Tonti Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1934 on.

1866first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Tonti Township began

When was Tonti Township founded?

1866

The Tonti Township post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Tonti (1866), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,022160 years
Founding year: the first Tonti Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Tonti 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 writtenNo old photos of Tonti Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Tonti Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Tonti Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tonti Township.

Read it all →

The community of Tonti was named in honor of Henri de Tonti, an early Italian/French explorer of Illinois.

On June 10, 1971, Tonti was the site of the 1971 Salem, Illinois, derailment which was a derailment of Amtrak's City of New Orleans passenger train. It is sometimes referred to as the Tonti derailment. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the derailment was caused by a false flange on a flat wheel caused by a seized axle bearing. The crash killed 11 people and injured 163. It was Amtrak's first train crash.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Tonti Township, 1866 to 1934

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Tonti post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1918Post officeThe Tonti post office closes
  5. 1934On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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

Tonti Township on the map, 1934 to 1978

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

Tonti Township on the 1934 USGS mapTonti Township on the 1965 USGS mapTonti Township on the 1978 USGS map1934Salem 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 Tonti Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Tonti Township

Nobody well known was born in Tonti Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
William Jennings BryanAmerican politician · b. 1860
Bill LaswellAmerican musician · b. 1955
Barbara JohnsonAmerican engineer · b. 1925
Charles W. BryanAmerican politician · b. 1867
James WickershamAmerican politician · b. 1857
Rockette MortonAmerican bass guitarist · b. 1949
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Tonti
Gone or out of use
Allmon SchoolschoolFairview SchoolschoolFriendship ChurchchurchJacks SchoolschoolOak Grove SchoolschoolPossomtrot SchoolschoolTonti Oil FieldoilfieldWoodward Schoolschool
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tonti Township
AllmanCemeteryCubbage ChapelEaganFredoniaHartlin

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.

Salem Township4 historic placesA−Carrigan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFoster TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAlma TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Tonti Township’s history

What year was Tonti Township founded?

The Tonti Township post office opened in 1866, 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 →
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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, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.