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History · Boody

Boody’s post office opened in 1870, and 56% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1954 on and old-book passages.

1870first post office
0on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Boody began

When was Boody founded?

1870

The Boody post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1998.

2020 census: 232156 years
Founding year: the first Boody post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1998.

What stands out about Boody’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 Boody are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Boody’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Boody’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Boody, in brief

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

Boody is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Macon County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Boody had a population of 232, down from 276 in 2010. Boody has a post office with ZIP code 62514. The community was named after Col William H Boody.

Its first post office opened in 1870. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 276 to 232 (-16%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Boody, 1880–1930

Passages that mention Boody, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Greenbury Call established the first blacksmith shop in 1840, on section 35, where he did a general blacksmithing business for a number of years. The first post-office in the township was established at the town of Boody in 1870, with Frederick Nientker as post-master. The supervisors who have repr…
History of Macon County, Illinois1880 · page 191Read the page →
Read the text

Greenbury Call established the first blacksmith shop in 1840, on section 35, where he did a general blacksmithing business for a number of years. The first post-office in the township was established at the town of Boody in 1870, with Frederick Nientker as post-master. The supervisors who have represented this township since its organization may be seen below : J. C. Armstrong was elected in 1860 ; W. T. Moffett in 1861 ; F. A. Brown in 1862, and re-elected

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Boody was named after Colonel William Boody, first president of the Decatur and East St. Louis railroad, now a part of the Wabash system.
Centennial history of Decatur and Macon county1930 · page 96Read the page →
Read the text

Boody was named after Colonel William Boody, first president of the Decatur and East St. Louis railroad, now a part of the Wabash system.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

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On the map

Boody on the map, 1954 to 1982

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

Boody on the 1954 USGS mapBoody on the 1982 USGS map1954Niantic 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 Boody.

Questions about Boody’s history

What year was Boody founded?

The Boody post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1998.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.