Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
The Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory lists 12 newspaper titles published in Putnam County, Illinois, with the earliest starting in 1826. 1 of these titles have digitized pages on Chronicling America. The National Register of Historic Places includes 4 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1975. Most listings are in or near Hennepin, McNabb, Putman.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
| Title | Place | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Genius of Universal Emancipation | Hennepin, | 1826–1839 |
| Genius of Universal Emancipation Digitized | Hennepin, | 1826–? |
| Hennepin Journal | Hennepin | 1837–1838 |
| Hennepin Herald, and Bureau County Advertiser | Hennepin, Princeton | 1845–1849 |
| Hennepin Herald, and Putnam and Bureau Advertiser | Hennepin | 1845–1849 |
| Hennepin Tribune | Hennepin | 1856–1859 |
| Hennepin Weekly Tribune | Hennepin | 1856–1899 |
| The Magnolia News | Magnolia | 1871–1877 |
| The Daily Crank | Hennepin | 1887–1999 |
| The Hennepin Herald | Hennepin | 1899–1899 |
| The Granville Echo | Granville | 1904–1999 |
| The Hennepin Record | Hennepin | 1926–1926 |
Source: Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory. “Digitized” links lead to page images on Chronicling America.
Each bar is one title’s publication span. brown = digitized on Chronicling America Open-ended runs extend to today.
Digitized page-1 issues from papers published in Putnam. Thumbnails link to the Library of Congress.
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View at Library of Congress
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View at Library of Congress
“Anti51 wry it view pitot Kunixaii colntv ccnru Il will be soon by thefollowing pr ceedings of sovoril Co only AniiSa very Societies in difleient parts of iis State that the spirit of Abolitionism…”
View at Library of CongressCourtesy Library of Congress, Chronicling America. Page images are hotlinked from loc.gov; generally public domain / no known restrictions (U.S. papers older than 95 years are public domain in their entirety; newer issues may contain some copyrighted third-party material). Rights & access.
No digitized front pages for Putnam were found on today’s month/day in the sampled years. Try the sample front pages above, or browse Chronicling America.
3 of 4 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Clear Creek Meeting House | McNabb | 1992 |
| Condit, Cortland, House | Putman | 1983 |
| Pulsifer, Edward, House | Hennepin | 1979 |
| Putnam County Courthouse | Hennepin | 1975 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
Putnam was formed in 1825 (1825-01-13) from unknown / original county.
PUTNAM created from Non-County Area 4 attached to EDGAR and Non-County Area 5 attached to FULTON.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Putnam County population from 1830 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1830 | 1840 | 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,310 | 2,131 | 5,587 | 5,554 | 4,746 | 7,579 | 5,289 | 4,746 | 4,570 | 6,085 | 6,086 | 5,637 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
20 cemeteries and 1 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
| Name |
|---|
| Boyle - Price Valley Cemetery |
| Caledonia Cemetery |
| Clear Creek Cemetery |
| Florid Cemetery |
| Florid Cemetery |
| Friends Cemetery |
| Gall William Farm Cemetery |
| Granville Cemetery |
| Hennepin Cemetery |
| Hennepin Riverside Cemetery |
| Magnolia Cemetery |
| Magnolia Cemetery |
| Mount Palatine Public Cemetery |
| Murphy Cemetery |
| Putnam Cemetery |
| Putnam Cemetery |
| Roberts Cemetery |
| Sacred Heart Cemetery |
| Saint Joseph Cemetery |
| Union Grove Cemetery |
| Name |
|---|
| Caledonia |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
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 Putnam County, Illinois
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.