Most of Crainville was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1900.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1888.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Crainville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Crainville is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Crainville’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 Crainville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 points). Two sources give 1881.
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 Crainville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
One of the earliest mining communities in Williamson County, Crainville is named for James M. Crain, who filed the first plat for the village. It was initially known as "Crain City," but incorporated as the village of Crainville on June 28, 1881. A post office opened on September 26, 1888, also under the name Crainville. It discontinued operations on January 31, 1914, and the community is now served by the post office at neighboring Carterville.
Passages that mention Crainville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Williamson county, Illinois1914 · page 175Read the page →
Read the text
get a gim for "Black Bill" Grain. Music said he would not do it ; that he would be seen but he would get one from John Ditmore, in Crainville, if that would do. "Big Jep" said it would do, and that he would go that night and get "Black Bill" who lived four miles south of Crainville, and meet him and Marsh next morning at the 'back of Mrs. Hampton's
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.
Timeline
Crainville, 1881 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1881, according to Wikidata. Crainville’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1900 counted 290 people here.
How does Crainville rank for history?
Crainville is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns. 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 Crainville?
7% of Crainville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (2), Wikipedia, 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 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.
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2021
