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Creve Coeur sign 20230923 0001Photo: Natalie Fee · CC BY-SA 4.0
CHistory
History · Creve Coeur

Creve Coeur was first counted by the census in 1930, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 27% of U.S. towns · #581 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1930.

1930first census
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Creve Coeur’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Creve Coeur began

When was Creve Coeur founded?

1930

Creve Coeur first appears in the census in 1930. Two smaller post offices, Wesley City (1843) and Wesley (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 350 in 19302020 census: 4,93496 years

How historic is Creve Coeur?

C

More historic than 27% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first census.
History grade

What drives Creve Coeur’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Creve Coeur is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #581 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Creve Coeur’s overall grade.
Founding era1930, from the first census: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194019.4% of homes (±11.1) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 27%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 24%

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 Creve Coeur’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 D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.1 points).

Founding year: the first census (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 Creve Coeur’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 6,851 in 1980; 4,934 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19057 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1996. Watch Creve Coeur change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Creve Coeur, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Creve Coeur’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Creve Coeur’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewIllinois Waterway, Peoria Lock and Dam,…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Creve Coeur, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0007,50019401960198020002020Peak: 6,851

Peaked at 6,851 in 1980; 4,934 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

On the map

Creve Coeur on the map, 1905 to 1996

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

Creve Coeur on the 1905 USGS mapCreve Coeur on the 1927 USGS mapCreve Coeur on the 1949 USGS mapCreve Coeur on the 1950 USGS mapCreve Coeur on the 1967 USGS mapCreve Coeur on the 1979 USGS mapCreve Coeur on the 1996 USGS map1905Peoria 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 Creve Coeur.

The story so far

Creve Coeur, in brief

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

Creve Coeur is a village in Groveland Township, Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 4,934. Creve Coeur is a suburb of Peoria and is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1930. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 5,451 to 4,934 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Creve Coeur, 1843 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1843Post officeThe Wesley City post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Wesley City post office closes
  4. 1888Post officeThe Wesley post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1931Post officeThe Wesley post office closes
  8. 1931Post officeThe Creve Coeur post office opens
  9. 1931Post officeThe Creve Coeur post office closes
  10. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 6,851
By decade

Creve Coeur, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Illinois Waterway, Peoria Lock and Dam, 1071 Wesley RoadDate?Illinois Waterway, Peoria Lock and Dam, 1071 Wesley R…
Today4 recent
Creve Coeur sign 20230923 00012023Creve Coeur sign 20230923 0001Creve Coeur library 20230923 00062023Creve Coeur library 20230923 0006Creve Coeur library 20230923 00052023Creve Coeur library 20230923 0005Tazewell County, IL 062020Tazewell County, IL 06
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Illinois Waterway, Peoria Lock and Dam, 1071 Wesley Road
Retake this viewIllinois Waterway, Peoria Lock and Dam, 1071 Wesley Road

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Creve Coeur’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Creve Coeur had its own post office from 1931 to 1931. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wesley City
1843–1888
Wesley
1888–1931
Creve Coeur
1931–1931
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Wesley
Gone or out of use
Creve Coeur Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Creve Coeur
Gerber School

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

East PeoriaIts storyCPekin Township5 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLimestone Township3 historic placesA−North PekinIts storyDPeoria City Township26 historic placesA+Peoria26 historic placesA+Groveland TownshipIts storyB−Marquette HeightsIts storyC−

Questions about Creve Coeur’s history

What year was Creve Coeur founded?

The Creve Coeur post office opened in 1930, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Creve Coeur rank for history?

Creve Coeur is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #581 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 Creve Coeur?

19% of Creve Coeur’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1955.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), 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.