Illinois Bend

An old schoolhouse in Illinois Bend

An old schoolhouse in Illinois Bend

Photo by Nicholas Henderson, CC2

Illinois Bend was on Farm Road 677 twenty miles northeast of Montague in the extreme northeastern corner of Montague County. The community, which initially was called Wardville, after local landowner C. M. Ward, was settled in 1862 by a small group of families who moved to Texas from Illinois. The name was changed to Illinois Bend in 1877, when a post office was located there. In 1885 the settlement had a population of 300, two gristmills, a number of cotton gins, a school, and several churches. By 1910 the town had been bypassed by rail lines, and its population had fallen to 112. The population was sixty-eight by the late 1940s, when one business operated there. The community's post office closed sometime after 1930. By the late 1960s only fifty-one persons lived in Illinois Bend. In 2000 the population had fallen to thirty.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Belongs to

Illinois Bend is part of or belongs to the following places.

Adopt a Town

The Texas Almanac's Land Rush program lets you adopt the town, county, or lake of your choice and share your message with the world. 100% of the proceeds benefit education in Texas.

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Illinois Bend is classified as a Town

Associated Names

  • (Wardville)

Locations

  • Latitude
    33.88176850
    Longitude
    -97.48724420

Has Post Office

No

Is Incorporated

No

Proud to call Texas home?

Put your name on the town, county, or lake of your choice.


Search Places »

Illinois Bend by the Numbers

This is some placeholder text that we should either remove or replace with a brief summary about this particular metric. For example, "We update population counts once per year..."

Pop. Year Source
40 2009 Local Officials