The site of Larchwood and the land adjacent to it, which was known as Sykes Estate, was originally given as a grant by the United States Government to Charles W. Holder of Bloomington, Illinois in 1869 with a patent issued in 1870.
Larchwood obtained it’s name from Mr. Willard. Jesse Fell wanted to call the town “Willardsville” but Mr. Willard said “No, we’ll call it Larchwood from its larch groves.” so it came about that the town was given a name as beautiful as it is itself.
The early settlers were plagued by many problems – drought (1871), grasshoppers (1873), diphtheria and blizzards (1881-1888).