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B−History
History · Carbondale

Carbondale dates to 1852, and 5 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 51% of U.S. towns · #389 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 46 buildings. Most of Carbondale was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 27 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.

1852founded
5on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
27old photos & papers
38famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Carbondale’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Carbondale began

When was Carbondale founded?

1852

Carbondale dates its founding to 1852 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 2,213 in 18802020 census: 21,857174 years

How historic is Carbondale?

B−

More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1854.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Carbondale’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Carbondale is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #389 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Carbondale’s overall grade.
Founding era1852, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.5% of homes (±1.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register5 listings, 49 historic buildings, 22.1 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 51%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 49%

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Carbondale’s 22.1 sits above most of its state (87% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 49 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1852.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Carbondale’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos27 old photos, postcards and papers, 1880–1992.A historic districtThe West Walnut Street Historic District takes in 46 historic buildings.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1913, drew every building in Carbondale.Famous sons and daughtersLaurie Metcalf, Paul Gilbert and 36 more were born here.
★ What stands out · By decade

Carbondale, decade by decade

6 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1910s5 items
Passenger Depot1880Passenger DepotPassenger depot, I.C.R.R1900Passenger depot, I.C.R.RExterior of Barth Theater with marquee reading "In old Kentucky with Anita Stewart," Carbondale, Illinois1910Exterior of Barth Theater with marquee reading "In ol…View in yards of Ayer-Lord tie plant1910View in yards of Ayer-Lord tie plantMain Building, Southern Illinois State Normal University1918Main Building, Southern Illinois State Normal Univers…
1940s7 items
Illinois1942IllinoisIllinois1942IllinoisIllinois1942IllinoisIllinois1942IllinoisIllinois1942IllinoisIllinois1942IllinoisCarbondale, Illinois. Signs (outside) Carbondale, Illinois1942Carbondale, Illinois. Signs (outside) Carbondale, Ill…
1950s–1970snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1980s12 items
Airslide Hopper, MP1988Airslide Hopper, MPAirslide Hopper, MP1988Airslide Hopper, MPAirslide Hopper, MP1988Airslide Hopper, MPAirslide Hopper, NW1988Airslide Hopper, NWCovered Hopper, Continental Grain Co1988Covered Hopper, Continental Grain CoCovered Hopper, Sand's of Iowa1988Covered Hopper, Sand's of IowaIllinois Central 3076 (GP40A)1988Illinois Central 3076 (GP40A)Airslide Hopper, MP1989Airslide Hopper, MPAirslide Hopper, UP1989Airslide Hopper, UPIllinois Central 9451 & 9450 (both SD28)1989Illinois Central 9451 & 9450 (both SD28)Illinois Central Gulf 9450 (SD28)1989Illinois Central Gulf 9450 (SD28)Illinois Central Gulf 9450 (SD28)1989Illinois Central Gulf 9450 (SD28)
1990s3 items
Trailer Train Flatcars with Bradley Fighting Vehicles1990Trailer Train Flatcars with Bradley Fighting VehiclesFlat Cars, Trailer Train with Army Truck Cabs1992Flat Cars, Trailer Train with Army Truck CabsFlat Cars, Trailer Train with Army Trucks1992Flat Cars, Trailer Train with Army Trucks
Today9 recent
Ernest and Mary Terrace2010Ernest and Mary TerraceGreetings from Carbondale, Illinois, Home of Southern Illinois Normal University - Large Letter Postcard2010Greetings from Carbondale, Illinois, Home of Southern…DocumentHolidayInnCarbondale2009HolidayInnCarbondaleCarbondale12009Carbondale1FIRST Overdrive 2219 Megahurts2007FIRST Overdrive 2219 MegahurtsCarbondale2007CarbondaleCarbondale ariel view2007Carbondale ariel viewCarbondale ariel view (cropped)2007Carbondale ariel view (cropped)Carbondale Railroad Memorial2005Carbondale Railroad Memorial
On the National Register

5 listings protect 49 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
49
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
West Walnut Street Historic District
West Walnut Street Historic DistrictReef HouseWoodlawn CemeteryIllinois Central Railroad Passenger DepotFuller, R. Buckminster, and Anne Hewlett Dome Home
BuildingsDistrictsSites

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
Italianate1
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Modern Movement1
West Walnut Street Historic DistrictQueen Anne
Reef HouseBuilding
Woodlawn CemeterySite
Illinois Central Railroad Passenger DepotLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements
Fuller, R. Buckminster, and Anne Hewlett Dome HomeModern Movement

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Every building

Carbondale, building by building, 1886–1913

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 year, then a sheet.

Carbondale fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 11886Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

The story

How Carbondale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Carbondale.

Read it all →

In August 1853, Daniel Harmon Brush, John Asgill Conner, and Dr. William Richart bought a 360-acre (1.5 km2) parcel of land between two proposed railroad station sites (Makanda and De Soto) and two county seats (Murphysboro and Marion). Brush named Carbondale for the large deposit of coal in the area. The first train through Carbondale arrived on Independence Day 1854, traveling north on the main line from Cairo, Illinois. By the time of the American Civil War, Carbondale had developed as a regional center for transportation and business, surrounded by agricultural development. This part of Illinois was known as "Little Egypt" because of the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, where the town of Cairo is located.

ChaptersEclipse Crossroads of America

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Carbondale, 1852 to 1990

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852
    FoundingCarbondale is established
  3. 1854Post officeThe Carbondale post office opens
  4. 1880In the archivePassenger Depot
  5. 1891Born hereAgnes Ayres is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900In the archivePassenger depot, I.C.R.R
  8. 1910In the archiveExterior of Barth Theater with marquee reading "In old Kentucky with Anita Stewart," Carb…
  9. 1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1942In the archiveIllinois
  11. 1955Born hereLaurie Metcalf is born here
  12. 1966Born herePaul Gilbert is born here
  13. 1973Born hereBen Falcone is born here
  14. 1988In the archiveAirslide Hopper, MP
  15. 1990In the archiveTrailer Train Flatcars with Bradley Fighting Vehicles
On the map

Carbondale on the map, 1922 to 1990

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

Carbondale on the 1922 USGS mapCarbondale on the 1941 USGS mapCarbondale on the 1966 USGS mapCarbondale on the 1978 USGS mapCarbondale on the 1990 USGS map1922Carbondale 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 Carbondale.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Passenger Depot
Retake this viewPassenger Depot, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Carbondale’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Carbondale, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 27,033

Between 2,213 and 27,033 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

38 famous people were born in Carbondale

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Laurie MetcalfAmerican actress · b. 1955
P
Paul GilbertAmerican guitarist · b. 1966
Agnes AyresAmerican actress · b. 1891
Ben FalconeAmerican actor, comedian, screenwriter and prod… · b. 1973
Justin DentmonAmerican basketball player · b. 1985
Frankie TrumbauerAmerican musician · b. 1901
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Carbondale’s post office has been open since 1854.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Evergreen TerraceSouthern Hills
Gone or out of use
Covered Bridge SchoolschoolCrowell SchoolschoolNew Era Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Carbondale
OaklandSnider HillWinchesterWoodlawn

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Carbondale’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
5 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPassenger Depot: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Carbondale Township5 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMurphysboro Township10 historic placesA

Questions about Carbondale’s history

What year was Carbondale founded?

In 1852, according to Wikidata. Carbondale’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1880 counted 2,213 people here.

How does Carbondale rank for history?

Carbondale is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #389 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Carbondale?

5 listings: 3 buildings, 1 historic district, the West Walnut Street Historic District, with 46 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 49 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Carbondale?

5% of Carbondale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1976.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (30), the Library of Congress (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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 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.