Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1870.
The Butler post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Butler’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Butler yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Butler is a small village in Montgomery County, Illinois, United States. The population was 164 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 180 to 164 (-9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Butler. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Butler.
Passages that mention Butler, cut from the printed page as they were published.
About the year 1860 Michael Fancy removed to Montgomery Co. 111., and lived for three years upon the farm east of Butler now owned by, Wm. Simmons. He then bought the house on the Seward Hill south of Butler, now occupied by Enoch Fox, where he lived for about two years. He then removed to St. Louis where he remained for about one year when he came to the Village of Butler which he has ever since made his home.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
We give below, according to the best of our information the names of those who have taught school in the Village of Butler. We have not attempted to fix upon the dates of the service of those who taught in the earlier history of the Village, but give names as we have received them from those who are familiar with the history of the place.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereHarold Osborn is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Between 156 and 1,648 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Butler’s Wikipedia page.
The Butler post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), 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.
