La Harpe, Illinois

City: La Harpe

County: Hancock

State: Illinois

Lat/Long: 40.5833, -90.9667

Located in northeastern Hancock County, La Harpe was laid out in 1836. Originally known as Franklin, town leaders changed the name when the U.S. Post Office Department refused to give the area a post office because of the large number of Franklins already in Illinois. In 1859, the Illinois General Assembly chartered La Harpe as a city.

James N. Adams, comp., Illinois Place Names (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society, 1989), 412; Th. Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois (Chicago: Chas. C. Chapman, 1880), 2:892; "An Act to Incorporate the City of La Harpe," 24 February 1859, Private Laws of Illinois (1859), 169-81.