Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers
How Downs began
When was Downs founded?
1860
The Downs post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1870. Another post office, Delta (1852), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 295 in 19202020 census: 1,201166 years
How historic is Downs?
C
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Downs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1870.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Downs’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Downs is more historic than 33% 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 Downs’ 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 Downs’ 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 (±10.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1870 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Downs’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Downs was originally a small community known as "Delta", established by McLean County settlers in 1829. Previously, the area served as a trading post for the Kickapoo people. When the Indiana, Bloomington and Western Railway was built in 1869, several buildings were dismantled and reconstructed further south to put the town closer to the railroad. The town was then renamed "Priceville" in honor of John Price, a resident who owned the land near the tracks. In 1902, the town's name was changed to "Downs", after postal clerks commonly confused Priceville with the similarly named Illinois town of Princeville. Downs is named for Lawson Downs, one of the area's pioneer settlers.
Passages that mention Downs, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The History of McLean County, Illinois1879 · page 714Read the page →
Read the text
J. K. Gardner sold implements here during the seasons of 1876 and 1877. The Postmasters of Downs, since the office has been located at the station, have been C. D. Bellville, John Bellville, John A. Davis, and Oliver Staten, who was appointed April 1, 1879. The railroad agents, successively, have been C. D. Bellville, from 1870 to 1873 ; J.
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
Downs, 1852 to 1951
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Downs post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1870.
How does Downs rank for history?
Downs is more historic than 33% 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 Downs?
13% of Downs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.5 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1993.
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), 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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