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History · Vina

Vina’s post office opened in 1907

Most of Vina was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1920.

1907first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Vina began

When was Vina founded?

1907

The Vina post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 339 in 19202020 census: 325119 years
Founding year: the first Vina post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Vina’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Vina are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 472 in 1940; 325 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vina’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vina’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Vina, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 472

Peaked at 472 in 1940; 325 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Vina’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Vina came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vina.

Read it all →

Vina was originally known as "Jones Crossroads," and later as "New Burleson." When a branch of the Illinois Central Railroad was constructed through the area in the early 1900s, the community was renamed "Vina" after the wife of a railroad engineer.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vina, 1907 to 1942

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907Post officeThe Vina post office opens
  3. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 472
  5. 1942Born hereJohnny Mack Morrow is born here
By decade

Vina, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Vina-water-tower-al2018Vina-water-tower-alVina-old-store-al2018Vina-old-store-alVina-Town-Hall-al2018Vina-Town-Hall-alVina-High-School-al2018Vina-High-School-alVina-Community-Center-al2018Vina-Community-Center-alVina-CR23-al2018Vina-CR23-al
On the map

Vina on the map, 1936 to 1976

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Vina. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Vina on the 1936 USGS mapVina on the 1951 USGS mapVina on the 1976 USGS map1936Halltown sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Vina.

Questions about Vina’s history

What year was Vina founded?

The Vina post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.