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Welcome to Seneca ...

The village of Seneca is primarily located in La Salle County<1>. A portion of Seneca extends into Grundy County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Seneca, you might consider that their post office opened in 1865.

The village was incorporated in 1858.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Seneca has a population of 2,241 people<2> (see below for details).

Seneca is 510 feet [155 m] above sea level.<3>.

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

Area Codes for Seneca: 815 & 779<4>

The ZIP code for Seneca: 61360<5>

The village of Seneca has also been called Crotty. and Seneca village. For more information about the names of Seneca, see The Names of Seneca on our Genealogy Page.

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Seneca had an population of 2,241 people. This is a decrease of 5.48% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 9.16% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Seneca had a population of 2,371 people. This makes Seneca the county's 8th most populous community.

The population of Seneca represents 0.02% of the population of Illinois (which has 12,830,632 people), making it the state's 459th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 2,371 people, the population of Seneca increased 15.49% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 2,053 people).

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

Communities Also Named Seneca ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 26 communities that are also named Seneca - they are located in Arizona, California, Florida (2), Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan (2), Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Ohio (2), Ontario, Oregon (2), Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

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

Communities near Seneca ...

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

  • Ottawa
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Ottawa is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottawa
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,097 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ottawa <6>
  • Morris
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Channahon
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Streator
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Minooka
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Coal City
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Dwight
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Dwight is located in Livingston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,984 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dwight <6>
  • Sheridan
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Diamond
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Gardner
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)

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

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Seneca ...

Looking for more information about Seneca? 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 Seneca, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Seneca.

Adding Seneca to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Seneca 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 (so far) for Seneca was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Seneca post office opened in 1865.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Seneca.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including La Salle, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Seneca.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Seneca - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>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 815 code has been Overlayed with the 779 area code. New phone numbers in the Seneca area will be assigned with one of these codes: 815 or 779. As a result, placing a call in the Seneca area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>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 village (such as Seneca). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Seneca or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

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