Welcome to McDowell ...

McDowell is located in Livingston County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of McDowell, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1872.

McDowell is 660 feet [201 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: McDowell lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you leave McDowell and travel east, you will leave Central Time and cross into the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT).

Area codes for McDowell: (815) and (779)<3>

Communities Also Named McDowell ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 8 communities that are also named McDowell - they are located in Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for McDowell.

Communities near McDowell ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near McDowell.

• Pontiac
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pontiac have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pontiac
  • Pontiac is located in Livingston County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,176 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pontiac <5>
• Dwight
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
  • Dwight is located in Livingston County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,984 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dwight <5>
• Fairbury
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbury
  • Fairbury is located in Livingston County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,596 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairbury <5>
• Lexington
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lexington have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lexington
  • Lexington is located in McLean County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,020 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lexington <5>
• Chenoa
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chenoa
  • Chenoa is located in McLean County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,717 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chenoa <5>
• Gridley
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gridley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gridley
  • Gridley is located in McLean County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,392 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gridley <5>
• Forrest
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forrest have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forrest
  • Forrest is located in Livingston County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,124 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Forrest <5>
• Chatsworth
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chatsworth have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatsworth
  • Chatsworth is located in Livingston County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,104 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chatsworth <5>
• Flanagan
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flanagan have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flanagan
  • Flanagan is located in Livingston County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,057 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flanagan <5>
• Colfax
  (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colfax have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colfax
  • Colfax is located in McLean County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,009 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colfax <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around McDowell. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for McDowell.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of McDowell. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around McDowell.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around McDowell. See our Newspapers Page for McDowell.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for McDowell ...

Looking for more information about McDowell? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to McDowell, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for McDowell.

Adding McDowell to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of McDowell in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for McDowell was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the McDowell post office opened in 1872.

We also found McDowell on a map titled Rand McNally Map (1881).

For more details, see References and Mentions for McDowell.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for McDowell. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Livingston County: www.livingstoncounty-il.org/

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov