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History · Campus

Campus dates to 1839, and 48% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1900.

1839founded
0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Campus began

When was Campus founded?

1839

Campus dates its founding to 1839 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 226 in 19002020 census: 149187 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1880.The full story ↓

What stands out about Campus’ 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 Campus are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1839: 187 years of Campus.Old housesHalf of Campus’ homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Campus’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Campus’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
Timeline

Campus, 1839 to 1948

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839
    FoundingCampus is established
  3. 1880Post officeThe Campus post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1918Born hereJoseph Zeller is born here
  6. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Campus came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Campus.

Read it all →

Campus was laid out and platted by Charles William Sheldon (1839–1911) in April 1880, along the Wabash Railroad on his farm of 640 acres (260 ha). The town was named "Campus" because the many trees were reminiscent of a college campus.

Sheldon was a farmer and he owned the first business in town, Campus Brick & Tile Co. He later sold the company, which passed through several owners before closing in 1952. Over the years the tile company produced millions of feet of drain tile and was one of the principal industries in the town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Campus in 1930

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

ent that the University was to experience an unprecedented growth, the Trustees felt that a more comprehensive Campus Plan should be developed, especially to provide for the inevitable expansion into what is now the South Campus area, which at that time had been but roughly blocked out for Campus p…
History of the growth and development of the campus of the University of Illinois1930 · page 169Read the page →
Read the text

ent that the University was to experience an unprecedented growth, the Trustees felt that a more comprehensive Campus Plan should be developed, especially to provide for the inevitable expansion into what is now the South Campus area, which at that time had been but roughly blocked out for Campus purposes. Accordingly, the Campus Plan Commission of 1920-22 was created, and extensive plan studies were prepared under their general direction, resulting in 1922 in the adop-

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In the development of his plan, Mr. Platt accepted the Campus Meridian as laid out by Mr. Olmsted in 1906 and the subdivision into general areas recommended by the Burnham Campus Plan Commission of 1912. He retained the
History of the growth and development of the campus of the University of Illinois1930 · page 117Read the page →
Read the text

In the development of his plan, Mr. Platt accepted the Campus Meridian as laid out by Mr. Olmsted in 1906 and the subdivision into general areas recommended by the Burnham Campus Plan Commission of 1912. He retained the

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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Campus on the map, 1948 to 1983

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

Campus on the 1948 USGS mapCampus on the 1950 USGS mapCampus on the 1983 USGS map1948Dwight 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 Campus.

People over time

Campus, census by census

01002001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 241

Between 137 and 241 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Campus’ history

What year was Campus founded?

In 1839, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Campus’ post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1900 counted 226 people here.

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 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.