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History · Bingham

Bingham’s post office opened in 1883, and 67% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1944 on and the census since 1890.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
67%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Bingham began

When was Bingham founded?

1883

The Bingham post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 178 in 18902020 census: 60143 years
Founding year: the first Bingham post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bingham’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 Bingham are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Bingham’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 273 in 1900; 60 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bingham’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bingham’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
The story so far

Bingham, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bingham yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Bingham is a village in Fayette County, Illinois, United States. The population was 60 at the 2020 census. The village was named after Judge Horatio Bingham. A post office was established in 1883 but closed in 2013.

Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 83 to 60 (-28%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

People over time

Bingham, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 273

Peaked at 273 in 1900; 60 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Timeline

Bingham, 1883 to 1944

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Bingham post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 273
  5. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Bingham on the map, 1944 to 1998

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

Bingham on the 1944 USGS mapBingham on the 1974 USGS mapBingham on the 1998 USGS map1944Ramsey sheet · 1:62,500

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Bingham

Nobody well known was born in Bingham itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
J
June SquibbAmerican actress · b. 1929
Matt HughesAmerican mixed martial arts fighter · b. 1973
H. L. HuntAmerican businessman · b. 1889
Harry BellaverAmerican actor · b. 1905
Virgil MillerAmerican cinematographer · b. 1886
Frank S. DicksonAmerican politician · b. 1876

Questions about Bingham’s history

What year was Bingham founded?

The Bingham post office opened in 1883, 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 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.