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History · Coffeen

Coffeen’s post office opened in 1883, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1947 on and the census since 1890.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Coffeen began

When was Coffeen founded?

1883

The Coffeen post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 518 in 18902020 census: 647143 years
Founding year: the first Coffeen post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Coffeen’s 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 Coffeen are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 980 in 1910; 647 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Coffeen’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Coffeen’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Coffeen’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
People over time

Coffeen, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 980

Peaked at 980 in 1910; 647 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Coffeen came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Coffeen.

Read it all →

Coffeen was named after one of its founders, Gustavus Coffeen.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Coffeen, 1883 to 1947

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Coffeen post office opens
  3. 1886Born hereVirgil Miller is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 980
  6. 1947On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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

Coffeen on the map, 1947 to 1998

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

Coffeen on the 1947 USGS mapCoffeen on the 1974 USGS mapCoffeen on the 1998 USGS map1947Hillsboro 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 Coffeen.

Questions about Coffeen’s history

What year was Coffeen founded?

The Coffeen post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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) 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.