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History · Cowden

Cowden’s post office opened in 1872, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1983 on and the census since 1880.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cowden began

When was Cowden founded?

1872

The Cowden post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Dry Point (1864), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 350 in 18802020 census: 515154 years
Founding year: the first Cowden post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cowden’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 Cowden are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 751 in 1900; 515 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Cowden’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cowden’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cowden’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

Cowden, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 751

Peaked at 751 in 1900; 515 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Cowden, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cowden yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Cowden is a village in Shelby County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Cowden had a population of 515.

Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 629 to 515 (-18%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Cowden, 1864 to 1983

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1864Post officeThe Dry Point post office opens
  3. 1866Post officeThe Dry Point post office closes
  4. 1872Post officeThe Cowden post office opens
  5. 1877Born hereJoe Adams is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 751
  8. 1983On 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

Cowden on the map in 1983

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cowden.

Cowden on the 1983 USGS map1983Beecher City 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 Cowden.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Cowden’s post office has been open since 1872. Another post office, Dry Point, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dry Point
1864–1866
Cowden
1872–today
18601940today

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

Questions about Cowden’s history

What year was Cowden founded?

The Cowden post office opened in 1872, 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 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.