Incorporated town

 

 

An incorporated town is a town that is a municipal corporation.

Canada

Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government.

United States

An incorporated town in the United States is an incorporated municipality, that is, one with a charter received from the state, similar to a city. An incorporated town will have elected officials, as differentiated from an unincorporated community, which exists only by tradition and does not have elected officials at the town level. In some states, especially in midwestern and western states, civil townships may sometimes be called towns, but are generally not incorporated municipalities, but are administrative subdivisions and derive their authority from statute rather than from a charter. In New York and Wisconsin, the term "town" refers to municipalities more similar to townships in other states than to incorporated towns in most states (see Administrative divisions of New York, Political subdivisions of Wisconsin). In some other states, the term "town" is not used for municipalities.

California

Under California's Government Code Sections 34500-34504, the terms "city" and "town" are explicitly interchangeable, i.e. there is no legal distinction between an incorporated city and an incorporated town. California has 22 incorporated municipalities that are styled "Town of (Name)" instead of "City of (Name)".

Illinois

In Illinois, an incorporated town is one of three types of municipalities. An incorporated town is a municipality that was incorporated by a special act of the Illinois General Assembly, prior to the creation of the Illinois Municipal Code. Illinois' standard law on municipalities came into effect on July 1, 1872 and does not provide for the incorporation of municipal towns. Since the Municipal Code provides a standard way for citizens to incorporate a new city or village, incorporated towns are far less common than city and village municipalities in Illinois.

Although civil townships and incorporated towns are sometimes both called towns, they are completely separate types of government in Illinois—unlike incorporated towns, townships are subdivisions of a county and are not municipalities.

The oldest existing municipal town in Illinois is Astoria in Fulton County, incorporated on January 24, 1839; the newest existing town is Humboldt in Coles County, incorporated on April 16, 1878.

There are 17 incorporated towns in Illinois, none of which are county seats:

Existing Incorporated Towns in Illinois

Town	County	Incorporated
Annawan	Henry	1869-03-31
Astoria	Fulton	1839-01-24
Atkinson	Henry	1867-03-07
Belle Prairie City	Hamilton	1869-03-30
Chatsworth	Livingston	1867-03-08
Cicero	Cook	1867-02-28
Cortland	DeKalb	1865-02-16
Humboldt	Coles	1878-04-16
La Prairie	Adams	1869-04-15
Mason	Effingham	1865-02-15
Naples	Scott	1839-02-01
New Canton	Pike	1869-03-31
Nilwood	Macoupin	1867-03-09
Normal	McLean	1867-02-25
Otterville	Jersey	1867-03-07
Sigel	Shelby	1867-03-07
Topeka	Mason	1869-04-10

Despite its name, Belle Prairie City, Illinois is an incorporated town, not a city.

Maryland

Municipalities in Maryland can be cities, towns, or villages.

See also: List of incorporated places in Maryland

New England

Main article: New England town

In all six New England states (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine), towns are the main units of local government. Towns cover most or all land area in all six states, including rural areas. New England towns are notable for their town meeting form of government.

See also

• Urban township