Blood & Biohazard Cleanup Near West Canton Canton, IL

Canton is the largest city in Fulton County in west-central Illinois, even though the county seat is Lewistown.

Canton was founded in 1825 by settler Isaac Swan, who named it because he mistakenly believed his new town sat exactly opposite Canton, China, as antipodes.

Canton was incorporated in 1837, a decade after its first post office opened in 1826.

Founder Isaac Swan, his infant child, and three other people were killed by a devastating tornado that struck Canton in June 1835.

Abundant coal, labor, railroads, and the nearby Illinois River made Canton a factory town, anchored by the P&O (Parlin & Orendorff) Plow Works, later an International Harvester plant that closed in 1983.

Canton had 13,242 residents at the 2020 census, down from 14,704 in 2010 as the city has gradually shrunk from its industrial-era size.

Census Bureau QuickFacts counts about 5,523 households in Canton (2020-2024), averaging only about 2.03 people per household.

Canton is home to Spoon River College, the community college serving the Spoon River valley region.

Today Canton's major employers include Graham Hospital, Cook Medical, and the Illinois River Correctional Center, a state prison.

The Canton Micropolitan Statistical Area covers all of Fulton County and is part of the wider Peoria-Canton Combined Statistical Area.