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Creal Springs Blue AvenuePhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Creal Springs

Creal Springs’ post office opened in 1883, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1895 on and the census since 1890.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Creal Springs began

When was Creal Springs founded?

1883

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

First census: 539 in 18902020 census: 505143 years
Founding year: the first Creal Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Creal Springs’ 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 Creal Springs are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,002 in 1920; 505 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1895 to 1910, drew every building in Creal Springs.Old housesHalf of Creal Springs’ homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Creal Springs’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Creal Springs’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

Creal Springs, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,002

Peaked at 1,002 in 1920; 505 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Every building

Creal Springs, building by building, 1895–1910

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Creal Springs fire insurance map, 1895, sheet 11895Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Creal Springs came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Creal Springs.

Read it all →

In the early 19th century, Lusk's Ferry Road was an important road that connected Fort Kaskaskia with Lusk's Ferry on the Ohio River. The original survey maps of Illinois show a short segment of this road south of Creal Springs, in Johnson County. This old road most likely ran from Marion through Creal Springs before ascending to the summit of the Shawnee Hills. The modern road running toward the southeast into Creal Springs may be the old road. The road leading south out of Creal Springs toward Lake of Egypt links into the Wagon Creek Road, which leads to the segment mapped in the original survey. Modern maps also show traces of an older road that ran south out of Creal Springs along a less direct line.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Creal Springs, 1883 to 1925

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Creal Springs post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,002
  5. 1925On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Creal Springs, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Creal Springs Blue Avenue2016Creal Springs Blue Avenue
On the map

Creal Springs on the map, 1925 to 1996

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

Creal Springs on the 1925 USGS mapCreal Springs on the 1940 USGS mapCreal Springs on the 1966 USGS mapCreal Springs on the 1996 USGS map1925Marion 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 Creal Springs.

Famous people

Famous people close to Creal Springs

Nobody well known was born in Creal Springs itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Virginia GreggAmerican actress · b. 1916
L
Levi CaseyAmerican triple jumper · b. 1904
Tom MurrayAmerican actor · b. 1873
H
Henry TurnerAmerican endocrinologist · b. 1892
Richard ClaridaAmerican economist · b. 1957
Edward E. DenisonAmerican politician · b. 1873

Questions about Creal Springs’ history

What year was Creal Springs founded?

The Creal Springs 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 Wikimedia Commons (1), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.