County Past
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McLean County, Illinois

Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.

155newspaper titles
0digitized titles
36historic places
1800earliest paper
1830formed
170,954pop. 2020
127cemeteries
—CW battlefields

At a glance

Summary

The Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory lists 155 newspaper titles published in McLean County, Illinois, with the earliest starting in 1800. None of these titles are currently digitized on Chronicling America. The National Register of Historic Places includes 36 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1972; 1 is also National Historic Landmark. Most listings are in or near Bloomington, Normal, Lexington.

Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.

Newspapers published in McLean

Library of Congress
155 newspaper titles
TitlePlaceYears
Bloomington Daily LeaderBloomington1800–1999
Bloomington JournalBloomington1800–1927
Bloomington TimesBloomington1800–1899
The Bloomington CommonwealthBloomington1800–1909
The Grange News and Home JournalNormal1800–1999
The Gridley JournalGridley1800–1899
The LancetBloomington1800–1899
The Leroy Free PressLe Roy1800–1999
The Leroy JournalLe Roy1800–1978
The Lexington UnitLexington1800–1909
The McLean GazetteMclean1800–1899
The Bloomington Observer and McLean County AdvocateBloomington1837–1838
The Bloomington ObserverBloomington1838–1899
M'lean RegisterBloomington1845–1899
Illinois ReveillePekin, Bloomington1848–1854
Illinois State BulletinBloomington1851–1859
The Bloomington IntelligencerBloomington1851–1853
Central Illinois TimesBloomington1853–1999
The Illinois BaptistBloomington1856–1858
Bloomington Daily National FlagBloomington1857–1858
The Daily National FlagBloomington1857–1857
The Daily PantagraphBloomington1857–1870
The Illinois StatesmanBloomington1858–1999
The Bloomington Daily ArgusBloomington1859–1899
The Lexington Weekly GlobeLexington1859–1899
Der Bloomington AnzeigerBloomington1860–1999
The Daily Evening EchoBloomington1863–1899
The Lexington HeraldLexington1863–1899
The M'lean County EchoBloomington1863–1899
Central Illinois DemocratBloomington1864–1999
Daily Evening DemocratBloomington1864–1899
M'lean County JournalBloomington1865–1899
Bloomington RepublicanBloomington1866–1999
The Bloomington JournalBloomington1866–1899
The Chenoa TimesChenoa1867–1879
The Daily ProhibitionistBloomington1867–1867
Bloomington Weekly DemocratBloomington1868–1899
Central Illinois WochenblattOttawa, Bloomington, La Salle1868–1927
Lexington CourierLexington1869–1899
The Bloomington DemocratBloomington1869–1999
The Daily LeaderBloomington1869–1883
Bloomington Daily PantagraphBloomington1870–1871
Bloomington PantagraphBloomington1870–1878
Le Roy EnterpriseLe Roy1870–1999
McLean County Deutsche PresseBloomington1870–1899
The Chenoa Weekly GazetteChenoa1870–1889
The Leroy Weekly ExchangeLe Roy1870–1872
Bloomington PantagraphBloomington1871–1878
The Illinois Trade JournalBloomington1872–1999
McLean County Anti-MonopolistSaybrook1873–1899
The Anti-MonopolistBloomington1873–1999
The Lexington EnterpriseLexington1873–1899
Chenoa Weekly MonitorChenoa1874–1879
Die Bloomington PostBloomington1874–1999
The AppealBloomington1875–1999
The Democratic NewsBloomington1877–1999
The EyeBloomington1878–1889
Bloomington Weekly PantagraphBloomington1879–1882
Danvers IndependentDanvers1879–1899
Lexington Local LeaderLexington1879–1899
The Bloomington Daily PantagraphBloomington1879–1891
Le Roy EagleLe Roy1880–1999
The BugMclean1880–1999
The Daily MailBloomington1880–1999
The Danvers DispatchDanvers1880–1999
Daily Bloomington BulletinBloomington1881–1882
Ellsworth ChronicleEllsworth1881–1899
The Bloomington BulletinBloomington1881–1886
Daily Illinois StatesmanBloomington1882–1999
The Bloomington BulletinBloomington1882–1886
Bloomington Daily LeaderBloomington1883–1892
Lexington ReviewLexington1883–1999
The Buzz-SawMclean1883–1999
The Daily IndependentBloomington1883–1999
The Arrowsmith NewsArrowsmith1884–1963
Illinois FreemasonBloomington1886–1999
The AdvocateBloomington1886–1999
The Bloomington Daily BulletinBloomington1886–1888
Bloomington LancetBloomington1887–1899
The Bloomington BulletinBloomington1888–1891
The Chenoa GazetteChenoa1889–1909
The Colfax LeaderColfax1889–1897
Heyworth ReporterHeyworth1890–1999
McLean County Temperance PulseBloomington1890–1999
The Bellflower JournalBellflower1890–1999
The Gridley AdvanceGridley1890–1956
The Daily BulletinBloomington1891–1927
The Daily PantagraphBloomington1891–1985
Bloomington LeaderBloomington1892–1895
The Chenoa ClipperChenoa1893–1917
Le Roy Semi-Weekly LaconicLe Roy1894–1999
The Daily LeaderBloomington1895–1899
The Daily CourierNormal1896–1896
The Colfax PressColfax1897–1934
The Colfax ReporterColfax1897–1897
Cooksville EnterpriseColfax, Cooksville1898–1925
Danvers CommercialDanvers1898–1999
The Bloomington RecordBloomington1899–1999
The Ellsworth TribuneEllsworth1899–1999
The Hudson GleanerHudson1899–1999
Bloomington Commonwealth and the Sunday RecordBloomington1900–1999
Bloomington-Normal Post-AmerikanNormal1900–?
Lexington Unit-JournalLexington1900–1972
McLean County CourierBloomington1900–?
McLean County Farm Bureau NewsBloomington1900–?
McLean County Farm and Home Bureau NewsBloomington1900–1999
The LexingtonianLexington1900–?
The Chenoa TimesChenoa1901–1917
The McLean County PostHudson1910–1999
The Danvers IndependentDanvers1912–1999
The Bellflower NewsBellflower1915–1921
The Chenoa Clipper-TimesChenoa1917–1972
The Heyworth StarHeyworth1923–?
Illinois Wochenblatt-JournalBloomington1927–1939
Carlock BoosterCarlock1930–1999
The Bloomington PressBloomington1930–1999
The Bloomington PressBloomington1930–1999
Bloomington JournalBloomington1931–1999
The Bloomington HeraldBloomington1933–1999
Eastern McLean County NewsColfax1934–1935
Eastern McLean County News the Colfax PressColfax1935–1936
The Colfax PressColfax1936–1991
Bloomington Labor NewsBloomington, Peoria1944–1945
The Gridley NewsGridley1958–1991
The McLean County NewsMclean1959–1959
The McLean LensMclean1959–1989
The Chenoa Clipper-Times the Lexington Unit-JournalChenoa, Lexington1960–1999
The Carlock ChronicleCarlock1962–1999
Chenoa Clipper Times and Lexington Unit JournalChenoa1972–1991
The Daily VidetteNormal, Bloomington1972–1973
Bloomington-Normal Post-AmerikanBloomington1973–?
MasqueradeBloomington, Normal1976–1999
Chenoa-Lexington BannerChenoa1977–1989
Daily VidetteNormal, Bloomington1977–?
The Le Roy Journal Free Press and NewsLe Roy1978–1984
McLean County Union NewsBloomington1980–1982
Livingston & McLean Counties Union NewsBloomington1982–2002
The EagleLe Roy1983–1984
The Leroy JournalLe Roy1984–?
The Central Illinois United Methodist ReporterDallas, Bloomington1988–1989
Chenoa ChronicleChenoa1991–1999
The Gridley News-AdvanceGridley1991–1992
Gridley Village TimesGridley1992–?
Chenoa Town CrierChenoa1993–?
McLean County Women's ReviewTowanda1994–1999
Great Prairie Union NewsBloomington2003–2003
The Danvers MailDanvers2020–?
The Danvers MailDanvers2020–?
The McLean MailMclean2020–?
The McLean MailMclean2020–?
Deutschamerikanische Krieger-ZeitungBloomington?–
Heyworth Natural GasHeyworth?–
The Le Roy LaconicLe Roy?–
The Le Roy Weekly NewsLe Roy?–
The McLean LensMclean?–

Source: Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory. “Digitized” links lead to page images on Chronicling America.

Coverage timeline

Newspapers

Each bar is one title’s publication span. brown = digitized on Chronicling America Open-ended runs extend to today.

18001856191319692026

National Register of Historic Places

NPS NRHP

26 of 36 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.

36 listed properties
PropertyCityTypeListed
Bane, Warren, SiteEllsworthSite1982
Benjamin, Ruben M., HouseBloomingtonBuilding1978
Benjaminville Friends Meetinghouse and Burial GroundHolderBuilding1983
Bloomington Central Business DistrictBloomingtonDistrict1985
Bloomington High SchoolBloomingtonBuilding2018
Camelback BridgeNormalStructure1997
Cedar Crest Addition Historic DistrictNormalDistrict2006
Children's Village-Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's SchoolNormalDistrict2018
Clover Lawn NHLBloomingtonBuilding1972
Cook, John W., HallNormalBuilding1986
Cox, George H., HouseBloomingtonBuilding1985
Davis, David, III & IV, HouseBloomingtonBuilding1982
Duncan ManorTowandaBuilding1979
East Grove Street District-BloomingtonBloomingtonDistrict1987
Fairview SanatoriumNormalBuilding2021
Franklin SquareBloomingtonDistrict1976
Greenlee, Robert, HouseBloomingtonBuilding1997
Hamilton, John M., HouseBloomingtonBuilding1978
Holy Trinity Church Rectory and ConventBloomingtonBuilding1983
Hubbard HouseHudsonBuilding1979
LeRoy Commercial Historic DistrictLeRoyDistrict1996
McLean County Courthouse and SquareBloomingtonBuilding1973
Miller, George H., HouseBloomingtonBuilding1978
Miller-Davis Law BuildingsBloomingtonBuilding1979
Noble-WietingHeyworthSite2025
Normal TheaterNormalBuilding1997
Patton, John, Log CabinLexingtonBuilding1986
Scott, Matthew T., HouseChenoaBuilding1983
Scott-Vrooman HouseBloomingtonBuilding1983
Sprague's Super ServiceNormalBuilding2008
Stevenson HouseBloomingtonBuilding1974
US Army Aircraft C-53-DO-41-20124BloomingtonStructure1996
Van Dolah, David Hyatt, HouseLexingtonBuilding2015
Van Leer, Margaret and Bird, Broadview MansionNormalBuilding2016
White BuildingBloomingtonBuilding1994
White Place Historic DistrictBloomingtonDistrict1988

Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.

County formation

Newberry AHCB

Mclean was formed in 1830 (1830-12-25) from Tazewell.

McLEAN created from TAZEWELL and Non-County Area 6 attached to TAZEWELL.

Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

Population by decade

Census

McLean County population from 1840 to 2020 (Census historical series).

171k89k6,5651840188019201930196020002020
18401860188019001920194019501960198020002020
6,56528,77260,10067,84370,10773,93076,57783,877119,149150,433170,954

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.

Cemeteries & historical places

USGS GNIS

127 cemeteries and 1 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.

Cemeteries — 80 of 127 listed
NameLatLon
Adams CemeteryNoneNone
Allin CemeteryNoneNone
Anchor Township Cemetery40.55888-88.52245
Anchor Township Cemetery40.55864-88.522
Antioch Cemetery40.57234-88.57869
Arrowsmith Township Cemetery40.42837-88.66608
Barnes Cemetery40.40793-88.69329
Barnett Farm CemeteryNoneNone
Bellflower Township Cemetery40.36341-88.52536
Benjaminville Cemetery40.47629-88.80553
Bishop Cemetery40.33785-88.97537
Bishop Cemetery40.4209-88.90276
Blooming Grove Cemetery40.42466-88.97312
Blue Mound Cemetery40.50508-88.72893
Brock Cemetery40.33669-89.1351
Brooks Grove Cemetery40.40263-89.23577
Chapin CemeteryNoneNone
Cheney Grove Township Cemetery40.42688-88.53054
Chenoa Cemetery40.74338-88.7
Clarksville Cemetery40.6552-88.85107
Conaway CemeteryNoneNone
County Farm Cemetery40.41533-89.00112
Cropsey Cemetery40.60935-88.46945
Dawson Cemetery40.42008-88.71181
Dawson Cemetery40.62827-88.81308
Denman Cemetery40.61943-89.09625
Diamond Grove Cemetery40.38213-88.91434
Diamond Grove Cemetery40.36483-88.92188
East Lawn Cemetery40.48948-88.92646
East Twin Grove Cemetery40.48785-89.07685
Evergreen Cemetery40.59402-88.67522
Evergreen Memorial Cemetery40.46909-88.98854
Frankeberger Cemetery40.42385-88.73312
Fremont Cemetery40.28576-89.08731
Funks Grove Cemetery40.36074-89.13242
Gaar CemeteryNoneNone
Gilmore Cemetery40.34038-88.79261
Grassy Ridge Cemetery40.40664-89.00341
Greenwood Cemetery40.45576-88.57585
Gregory CemeteryNoneNone
Gridley Cemetery40.75282-88.87245
Hall Barnard Cemetery40.51667-89.13563
Havens Cemetery40.60607-88.9971
Hedrick CemeteryNoneNone
Henline CemeteryNoneNone
Heyworth Cemetery40.31678-88.97395
Hibbs - Bigger Cemetery40.69503-88.86006
Hildreth Cemetery (historical)NoneNone
Hinshaw CemeteryNoneNone
Hinthorn Cemetery40.62763-88.92665
Holy Cross Cemetery40.50884-89.01257
Holy Cross Cemetery40.5166-88.80609
Holy Cross CemeteryNoneNone
Hopewell Cemetery40.39955-88.87057
Howard Cemetery40.33922-88.73117
Hudson Cemetery40.60714-88.9839
Imhoff Cemetery40.59506-89.20325
Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery40.63926-88.6009
Indian Burial GroundNoneNone
Indian Field Cemetery40.61753-88.77368
Jewish Cemetery40.45735-89.00548
Kampf Cemetery40.38408-89.26263
Kampf CemeteryNoneNone
Kaufman Cemetery40.59051-89.01932
Lantz Cemetery40.56809-89.11425
Lawndale Cemetery40.65344-88.65158
Lebo Cemetery40.40758-88.80918
Lexington Cemetery40.6457-88.79967
Longsworth Cemetery40.32369-89.2373
Loving CemeteryNoneNone
McCullough CemeteryNoneNone
McLean Cemetery40.31754-89.1963
McNaught CemeteryNoneNone
Messer Cemetery40.65975-88.96716
Methodist Episcopal Church CemeteryNoneNone
Miller CemeteryNoneNone
Moor Family CemeteryNoneNone
Mosquito Grove CemeteryNoneNone
Mount Pleasant Cemetery40.44654-89.20785
North Danvers Cemetery40.56672-89.16248
Historical populated places — 1 of 1
NameLatLon
Littleville40.3417-88.95563

Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.

Historical markers

HMdb link

Marker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.

Search HMdb for McLean County, Illinois

Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.