Lacon’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 3 old photos of Lacon. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Lacon was named after Laconia, a region of Greece. Lacon was established in 1831 and is the oldest town in Marshall, Putnam, Bureau, and Stark Counties. On August 6, 1831, it was laid out as the town of Columbia. The town grew in population after the Black Hawk War.
A Temperance Society was formed July 28, 1836. A Presbyterian Church organized in 1837. A post-office was established in 1837. A newspaper called The Lacon Herald published in December 1837. The name changed from Columbia to Lacon on January 19, 1837. The town expanded with a purchase of an addition on July 3, 1837.
The Marshall County Courthouse was built in 1840 and a county jail in 1844. On June 27, 1842, President Martin Van Buren paid a brief visit to the town.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Lacon’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lacon’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewPhotograph with caption "Pontoon …, 1890: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Lacon, decade by decade
1930s
1990s
Nothing in Lacon is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Lacon has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Robert Waugh House in Sparland, 4.3 miles away.
Lacon and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Photograph with caption "Pontoon Wagon Bridge, Lacon, ILL." (1890) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.