Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns · #238 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 56 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1870.
Centralia dates its founding to 1853 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Centralia is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #238 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Centralia’s 48.1 sits above most of its state (90% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 57 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Peaked at 16,343 in 1940; 12,182 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Centralia’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Centralia. 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 Centralia.
From Wikipedia’s history of Centralia.
Centralia is named for the Illinois Central Railroad, built in 1853. The city was founded where the two original branches of the railroad converged. Centralia was first chartered as a city in 1859. Now Canadian National owns the line.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveCentralia, Marion Co., Illinois 1867
In the archiveChildren at Central School
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveFirst- and second-grade clases at the Lincoln School, Centralia, Illinois, 1916-1917 (scl…
Born hereDavid Blackwell is born here
Born hereRoland Burris is born here
Born hereJames Brady is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Centralia’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Centralia’s post office has been open since 1854.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1853, according to Wikidata. Centralia’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1870 counted 3,190 people here.
Centralia is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #238 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.
Two places: the Sentinel Building (listed 1978) and the Centralia Commercial Historic District (2012).
18% of Centralia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1965.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (14), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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