History of Astoria
Until one hundred and Seventy years ago, Astoria was just God and sky and wilderness. In the eastern part of town, a small village called Washington was laid out in 1836. Owing to the limited space allotted for the village here, it was moved a quarter of a mile westward where Zachariah Gilbert and Benjamin Clark laid out the present town of Astoria in 1837. It was called Vienna by special charter on January 24, 1839

Astoria was platted for these gentlemen as Vienna in the North-East quarter of Section 23, Astoria Township, on June 9, 1837. But the name had to be changed for the reason that there was already an incorporated town by the name of Vienna elsewhere in the State of Illinois. Astoria is one of nine municipalities in the State which retain their special charter granted prior to 1872. The Astoria name is derived, it is said, from that of the Pacific Station of John Jacob Astor, the famous fur trader, whose company bought pelts along the Illiois River. Also it is said that he owned a quarter section of land in this county.

This town was more fortunate than most frontier towns, for it was on the line of the daily four-house stage coach from Peoria to Quincy, from 1836 till 1843, and was the point where the stage coach riders stopped for dinner.

The town grew very slowly for a number of years. In 1870, as nearly as can be ascertained, Astoria contained a population of 350 persons. Then during 1870 the Rockford, Rock Island and St. Louis Railroad was completed and ran through Astoria. Astoria boasts of not having a drinking saloon within its limits. It has five dry goods stores, two hardware stores, two grocery stores, two drug stores, a first-class hotel and a flouring mill. It also has four churches and two good school houses. The Rockford, Rock Island, & St. Louis railroad company have extensive coal works in the town, and employ a large number of men. This marked an era of prosperity. By 1879 the population was about 1400.

As of 1959, lots of changes had taken place in both our community and society.

Between 1959 and 1970, things changed rapidly in the community. The coal mine opened, and jobs had become easy to find as new industry built up.

From 1970 to 1980 everything began its upward spiral-wages, prices, and taxes. Real Estate and energy cost went wild. The Astoria area became and remained a pocket of prosperity. Standards of living continued to improve.

Then suddenly, we found ourselves facing double digit inflation, interest rates of over 20%, and floundering industries. Our coal mine shut down, as did our industries here and in outlying areas.

As of 1987 the population was 1350.

Slowly the inflation has gone down some, and interest rates have dropped down to about 12%. The factor still hurting the economy is that energy costs have not lowered accordingly.

The population was 1,193 at the 2000 census.