Hamilton was laid out in 1852 by several men in the area, including Samuel Gordon and Bryant Bartlett. Hamilton was officially incorporated as a town in 1854, and then re-incorporated as a city in 1859. Artois Hamilton, for whom the town was named, was also active in the early history of the town. It is the largest City in Hancock County. It is along the Mississippi and the Great River Road runs through it. To learn more about Hamilton, read Judy Kammerer's book, History of Hamilton, Illinois.

J. E. Hamilton began producing wood type in 1880, and within 20 years his company, the Hamilton Manufacturing Company, became the largest producer of wood type in the United States.
Mission ... The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum is dedicated to preserve the wood type machinery and patterns designed by J.E. Hamilton in 1880; to illustrate how wood type was produced and used in printing; to demonstrate the importance of printing with both wood and metal type in the development of our country; to show how Hamilton wood type was used throughout the world; and to create a unique educational experience in graphic arts for present and future generations.
In 1881, George Hallauer asked Edward C. Berner, the owner of a soda fountain at 1404 - 15th Street, to top a dish of ice cream with chocolate sauce, hitherto used only for ice cream sodas. The concoction cost a nickel and soon became very popular, but was sold only on Sundays. One day a ten year old girl insisted she have a dish of ice cream "with that stuff on top," saying they could "pretend it was Sunday." After that, the confection was sold every day in many flavors. It lost its Sunday only association, to be called ICE CREAM SUNDAE when a glassware salesman placed an order with his company for the long canoe-shaped dishes in which it was served, as "Sundae dishes."