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History · Broadlands

Broadlands dates to 1876, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1914 on and the census since 1910.

1876founded
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Broadlands began

When was Broadlands founded?

1876

Broadlands dates its founding to 1876 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 480 in 19102020 census: 316150 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1877.

What stands out about Broadlands’ 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 Broadlands are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Broadlands’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Broadlands’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

Broadlands, in brief

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

Broadlands is a village in Champaign County, Illinois, along the East Branch of the Embarras River. The population was 316 at the 2020 census. Originally owned by the Sullivant family, Broadlands was, at over 70,000 acres (280 km2), one of the world's largest farms in the late 1860s. Broadlands was sold to John T. Alexander in 1866, and it was broken up upon his death in 1876 to pay his creditors.

Broadlands was established in 1876. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 349 to 316 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Broadlands, 1876 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876
    FoundingBroadlands is established
  3. 1877Post officeThe Broadlands post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1956On 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.

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On the map

Broadlands on the map, 1956 to 1998

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

Broadlands on the 1956 USGS mapBroadlands on the 1982 USGS mapBroadlands on the 1998 USGS map1956Newman 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 Broadlands.

Every building

Broadlands, building by building, 1914

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Broadlands fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Broadlands, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 480

Between 312 and 480 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Broadlands

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

See all →
Edward Adelbert DoisyAmerican biochemist · b. 1893
Donald E. RunyonAmerican World War II flying ace · b. 1913
H
Harry BaumAmerican football player and coach · b. 1874
Edna Noble WhiteAmerican home economics and child development e… · b. 1879
John L. KeithAmerican football and basketball coach · b. 1869
B
Blanche Beatrice BoyerAmerican classical philologist · b. 1896

Questions about Broadlands’ history

What year was Broadlands founded?

In 1876, according to Wikidata. Broadlands’ post office opened in 1877, and the census of 1910 counted 480 people here.

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, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.