Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of McLean yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
McLean is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Tompkins County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, McLean had a population of 378. The community is located in the town of McLean, 6.6 miles (10.6 km) west-southwest of Cortland. McLean has a post office with ZIP code 13102, which opened on June 30, 1826.
Its first post office opened in 1826.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about McLean, 1879–1930
Passages that mention McLean, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The History of McLean County, Illinois1879 · page 487Read the page →
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to the Western gold, silver and lead mines was that which swept through the Eastern States in regard to Illinois lands and town lots. During the years 1835, 1836 and 1837, more than five hundred new towns were laid out in Illinois, not less than a dozen of which were in McLean County, Lexington being one. Railroads were projected through nearly all of them, and these, with the town sites, were platted, showing depot grounds, parks and drives, and were sent with the most exaggerated descriptions to all parts of the country.
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The History of McLean County, Illinois1879 · page 232Read the page →
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At the March term, 1849, the Court made appropriations for building bridges in McLean County, as follows: $15(( for the building of a bridge across the Mackinaw at John Thompson's; $125 for repairing the bridge near Lexington across the Mackinaw ; $500 for building a bridge acrops the Mackinaw, on the road leading from Bloomington to Hennepin and Ottawa; $100 for a bridge across Money Creek, on the State road leading from Bloomington to Chicago; $150 for building a bridge across Sugar Creek, on the road leading from Bloomington to Hennepin ; $150 for building a bridge across the Kickapoo, on the road leading from Bloomington to Cheney's Grove ;
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Official souvenir program, McLean County Centennial, Aug.27,28,30,l9301930 · page 21Read the page →
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When the C. & A. railroad was built, the village of Mt. Hope was abandoned and the town of McLean located a few miles away on the railroad. William Johnson, one of the early settlers, became county commissioner. Others of the first settlers included Philip Cline, Ezra Kenyon, John and Robert Longworth, Daniel Darnell, Jacob Moure, the Wheelock brothers, W. II. Wood, and John Goodhue, the first
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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
McLean, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 (1) 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.
1866