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Welcome to Canton ...

The city of Canton is located in Fulton County<1>.

The pronunciation of Canton: KAN-tuhn<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Canton, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1826.

When the people of Canton refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Cantonian<3>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Canton has a population of 13,480 people<4> (see below for details).

Canton is 630 feet [192 m] above sea level.<5>.

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

Area Codes for Canton: 309 & 861<6>

The ZIP code for Canton: 61520<7>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Canton had an population of 13,480 people. This is a decrease of 8.32% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 11.83% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Canton had a population of 14,704 people (or 39.66% of the total population of Fulton County). This makes Canton the county's most populous community.

The population of Canton represents 0.11% of the total population of Illinois (which has 12,830,632 people), making it the state's 166th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 14,704 people, the population of Canton decreased 3.82% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 15,288 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Canton.

Communities Also Named Canton ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 39 communities that are also named Canton - they are located in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (3), Kentucky, Louisiana (2), Maine, Maryland (2), Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Brunswick, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia (2) and Wisconsin.

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

Websites for Canton ...

Chamber of Commerce:   www.cantonillinois.org/

Although we don't have any websites that are specific to Canton, the following might be of interest:

Communities near Canton ...

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

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 Canton. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Canton.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Canton. 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 Canton.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Canton. Our list includes 21 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Canton.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Canton ...

Looking for more information about Canton? 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.

In addition to the Tourism page for Canton, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Canton.

Adding Canton to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Canton 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 Canton was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<10>

X2X - From that list, the Canton post office opened in 1826.

We also found Canton in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Canton.

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Fulton, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Canton. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<3>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Canton refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Canton may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<4>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Canton.
<5>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Canton - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<6>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 309 code has been Overlayed with the 861 area code. New phone numbers in the Canton area will be assigned with one of these codes: 309 or 861. As a result, placing a call in the Canton area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<7>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Canton). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Canton or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<8>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<9>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<10>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 13 Apr 2025