The story
Read it all →How Buncombe came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Buncombe.
Buncombe was named for the settlers who came from Buncombe County, North Carolina.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Buncombe
Buncombe’s post office opened in 1871, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1918 on and the census since 1920.
1871first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Buncombe began
When was Buncombe founded?
1871
The Buncombe post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 280 in 19202020 census: 207155 years
Founding year: the first Buncombe post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Buncombe’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Buncombe’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Buncombe’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Buncombe on the map, 1918 to 1990
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Buncombe. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Vienna sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Buncombe.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Buncombe in 1925
Passages that mention Buncombe, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Johnson County, Illinois1925 · page 114Read the page →
Read the text
several years but was reorganized in 1886 by R. M. Pryor and the building was moved on the public road near che residence of Charles Peterson. The church house was finally moved to Buncombe in 1908, and designated the First Presbyterian Church of Buncombe. They have had no pastor since 1917. Some of the first members of this church were William Barnett, Edward Dooley, Henry Mangum, John Elkins, Dee and Daniel Simpson, and their ramihes,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Johnson County, Illinois1925 · page 113Read the page →
Read the text
Liberty Presbyterian church was first held in a school house northeast of Buncombe, near Latham Springs ; it was organized as early as 1850. This building was burned and
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.
Timeline
Buncombe, 1810 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1810
Born hereWatseka is born here - 1871Post officeThe Buncombe post office opens
- 20th century
- 1918
On 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.
Add from your albumPeople over time
Buncombe, census by census
Between 186 and 280 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Buncombe’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Buncombe’s post office has been open since 1871.
Gone or out of use
Buncombe Methodist ChurchchurchChurch of Christchurch
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Buncombe’s history
What year was Buncombe founded?
The Buncombe post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.