Founding year: the first Tremont post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Tremont’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tremont is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tremont’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 Tremont’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±8.9 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 Tremont’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
James Chapman settled in the Tremont area in 1820, followed by William Sterling, William and James Broyhill, Michael Trout, and David Lackland. Margaret E. Lackland was the first to be born in the new settlement. A post office was established in 1835 and the first postmaster was Wiliam Sampson. Josiah James and J. H. Harris laid out the village, built a school house, and built a church. Tremont was governed under district control until March 11, 1835, when it was organized as a town.
Passages that mention Tremont, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Historical account of the origin, growth and development of the village of Tremont, Illinois, together with biographical sketches of some of its early citizens1925 · page 15Read the page →
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History of Tremont Schools After the town of Tremont had been laid out in 1834, among the first things to be established was a school. The building was erected in the southeast corner of block 27 on lot 7. This property afterwards was owned by James K. Kellogg. The original school building is still standing, and serves as a kitchen to the late Kellogg home . In 1838 the Village found itself without a" teacher. The directors, learning of James Kellogg, a farmer who had been a most
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Historical account of the origin, growth and development of the village of Tremont, Illinois, together with biographical sketches of some of its early citizens1925 · page 14Read the page →
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The first telephone in the village of Tremont was one installed in the late 1880s by S. A. Hayward, from his grain office on Sampson Street to his residence opposite the northeast corner of the square.
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History of Tazewell county, Illinois1879 · page 309Read the page →
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also prominently identified Avith great works of the State, and an honored and respected citizen of Tazewell county. He w'as born in AVest Chester county, N. Y., in 1792 ; came to this county with the Tremont colony in 1834, and erected the first house in Tremont. He was in the war of 1812, and in the Black Hawk war. In 1839, during the great internal improvement system, he was appointed State Fund Commissioner, and went to Europe to negotiate a loan.
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History of Tazewell county, Illinois1879 · page 302Read the page →
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Tremont had its boundaries defined by including a Congressional township. First election was held at the court-house at Tremont. Mackinaw township had its boundaries permanently fixed. First election was held at school-house in the town of Mackinaw.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Tremont, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
The Tremont post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Tremont rank for history?
Tremont is more historic than 63% 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.
How old are the homes in Tremont?
21% of Tremont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (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), 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.
1891
Date?
