TownTapestry
Sign inJoin
BenningtonGood night
History · Bennington

Bennington’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Bennington. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Bennington Township is located in Marshall County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,669 and it contained 750 housing units. Bennington Township formed from a portion of Bell Plain Township. The exact date is unknown, but it was prior to 1860.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,669 to 1,564 (-6%). Half of its homes were built before 1951.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bennington yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Bennington’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
By decade

Bennington, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Bennington is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Bennington has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Memorial Bandstand of Long Point in Long Point, 11.3 miles away.

Bennington and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Bennington. Tap a dot.
Memorial Bandstand of Long PointEl Paso Public LibraryIllinois Central Railroad and Toledo, Peoria, and Western Railroad Freight HouseStreator Public LibraryRobert Waugh HouseSilas Williams House

Closest to Bennington

Memorial Bandstand of Long PointLong Point · Structure11.3miEl Paso Public LibraryEl Paso · Building16.6miIllinois Central Railroad and Toledo, Peoria, and Western Railroad Freight HouseEl Paso · Building16.7miStreator Public LibraryStreator · Built 190217.4miRobert Waugh HouseSparland · Building18mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Memorial Bandstand of Long Point’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Bennington?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Bennington’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Toluca📜 Rutland📜 Minonk📜 Bell Plain
We left the porch light on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Bennington, ILMarshall CountyView boundary

Nearby

All towns & citiesExplore the map

Local begins with a boundary.

See what belongs to your selected town.

Loading boundary…

Bennington is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
Open detailed map