Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1821.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Carlyle’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Carlyle is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #139 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Carlyle’s overall grade.
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 Carlyle’s 3.4 sits above most of its state (71% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.4 points). Two sources give 1818.
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 Carlyle’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
In 1811 or 1812, a man named John Hill built one of several "block" houses along the Goshen Trail, located at what is currently 201 Fairfax Street. The houses were reportedly built to serve as a line of defense against Native Americans. John Hill built the first house to be located in what has become Carlyle. He also established what could be considered Carlyle's first business: a ferry to carry traffic across the Kaskaskia River, including a small shelter at the river which served as a toll house.
A more singular proposition reached Carlyle from another quarter, kindly meant perhaps, but set forward with an air of patronage which the humblest of men would have resented unless at the last extremity; and humility was certainly not one of Carlyle’s qualities.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
subject, refusing to recognise Goethe’s sovereign excellence, had been studying ‘Meister’ at Carlyle’s instance, was still dissatisfied, and had frankly said so. Carlyle answers. To John Sterling. Chelsea: October 31, 1841.
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
Carlyle, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Carlyle’s post office has been open since 1828. Another post office, Carlisle, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Carlisle
1821–1828
Carlyle
1828–today
18201920today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Carlyle’s history
What year was Carlyle founded?
In 1818, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Carlyle’s post office opened in 1821, and the census of 1850 counted 289 people here.
How does Carlyle rank for history?
Carlyle is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #139 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 Carlyle?
One place: the General Dean Suspension Bridge (listed 1973).
How old are the homes in Carlyle?
26% of Carlyle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
Date?
Date?
2014
2014
