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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Waltham ...

Waltham is located in La Salle County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Waltham, you might consider that their post office opened in 1852.

When the people of Waltham refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Walthamite<2>

Waltham is 690 feet [210 m] above sea level.<3>.

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

Area Codes for Waltham: 815 & 779<4>

Communities Also Named Waltham ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 6 communities that are also named Waltham - they are located in Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana and Quebec.

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

Communities near Waltham ...

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

  • Ottawa
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Peru
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • La Salle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Mendota
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Spring Valley
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Oglesby
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Sheridan
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • De Pue
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • De Pue is located in Bureau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Pue
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,665 people
  • Earlville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • North Utica
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • North Utica is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Utica
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,333 people

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

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Waltham ...

Looking for more information about Waltham? 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 Waltham, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Waltham.

Adding Waltham to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Waltham 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 Waltham was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Waltham post office opened in 1852. The Waltham post office closed in 1901.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Waltham.

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>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 Waltham refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Waltham may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Waltham - 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 Waltham area will be assigned with one of these codes: 815 or 779. As a result, placing a call in the Waltham area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>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/