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History · Bluffs

Bluffs’ post office opened in 1872, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1975 on and the census since 1880.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bluffs began

When was Bluffs founded?

1872

The Bluffs post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 162 in 18802020 census: 618154 years
Founding year: the first Bluffs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bluffs’ 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 Bluffs are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,009 in 1920; 618 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Bluffs’ homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bluffs’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bluffs’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

Bluffs, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,009

Peaked at 1,009 in 1920; 618 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Bluffs, in brief

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

Bluffs is a village in Scott County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bluffs had a population of 618. It was briefly (1969–1971) the location of the WJJY TV Mast, the tallest structure (1,610 feet tall - 491 m) built to that date in Illinois. Bluffs is part of the Jacksonville Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 715 to 618 (-14%).

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

Timeline

Bluffs, 1872 to 1975

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Bluffs post office opens
  3. 1877Born hereWilliam B. Pine is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,009
  6. 1938Born hereR. Thomas Flynn is born here
  7. 1975On 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

Bluffs on the map, 1975 to 1990

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

Bluffs on the 1975 USGS mapBluffs on the 1980 USGS mapBluffs on the 1990 USGS map1975Meredosia SE 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 Bluffs.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Bluffs

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
William B. PineAmerican politician · b. 1877
R
R. Thomas FlynnRetired president of Monroe Community College · b. 1938

Questions about Bluffs’ history

What year was Bluffs founded?

The Bluffs post office opened in 1872, 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 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.