On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Centreville Township is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #292 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 Centreville Township’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 Centreville Township’s 2.5 sits above most of its state (68% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Centreville Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 12,769 in 1960; 4,232 people lived here in 2020.
8 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Centreville Township’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Centerville Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Briar HillCenterville StationStolleTillman
Gone or out of use
Casper-Stolle QuarrymineEast Saint Louis Quarrymine
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Centreville Township
Booker T WashingtonSaint Joseph
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Centreville Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Centreville Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Centreville was a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Centreville had a population of 4,232. Historically a predominantly Black and working-class community, Centreville has faced persistent environmental challenges stemming from economic disinvestment, redlining, and neglect by local and state governments. On May 6, 2021, the city ceased to exist, being incorporated along with Alorton and Cahokia into the new city of Cahokia Heights. Before the merger, the city struggled with some of the highest poverty rates in Illinois, compounded by public health threats posed by chronic flooding and raw sewage overflows. The residents and advocates identify these as…
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 25,386 to 20,213 (-20%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Centreville Township, 1866 to 1998
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Centreville Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1934Cahokia sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Centreville Township.
On the National Register
4 historic places in Centreville Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier.
places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
2
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
6 famous people were born in Centreville Township
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Centreville Township is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #292 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.
How old are the homes in Centreville Township?
10% of Centreville Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 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.
