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B+History
History · Earlville

Earlville’s post office opened in 1844, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1880.

1844first post office
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Earlville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Earlville began

When was Earlville founded?

1844

The Earlville post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 963 in 18802020 census: 1,613182 years

How historic is Earlville?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Earlville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Earlville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Earlville is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Earlville’s overall grade.
Founding era1844, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194031.3% of homes (±4.5) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational 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 72%
NewerOlder

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 Earlville’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 B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Earlville’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1844: 182 years of Earlville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Earlville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view19960107 22 BNSF: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Earlville, 1844 to 1996

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1844Post officeThe Earlville post office opens
  3. 1855Born hereFrederick C. Williams is born here
  4. 1860Born hereSteve Behel is born here
  5. 1899Born hereFritz Crisler is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1941Born hereGary K. Wolf is born here
  8. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1996In the archive19960107 22 BNSF
The story so far

Earlville, in brief

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

Earlville is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,613 at the 2020 census, down from 1,701 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1844. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,701 to 1,613 (-5%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Earlville in 1877

Passages that mention Earlville, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Earlville was made an important commercial point immediately after the completion of the railroad in 185%, a corporation, with municipal power, in 1868, and a city In 3877. J, J. Pool ts mayor.
History of LaSalle County, Illinois1877 · page 547Read the page →
Read the text

Earlville was made an important commercial point immediately after the completion of the railroad in 185%, a corporation, with municipal power, in 1868, and a city In 3877. J, J. Pool ts mayor.

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.

By decade

Earlville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s4 items
19960107 22 BNSF199619960107 22 BNSF19960720 09 BNSF199619960720 09 BNSFIllinois Zephyr in Earlville, July 19961996Illinois Zephyr in Earlville, July 199619970426 17 Amtrak199719970426 17 Amtrak
Today9 recent
Earlville Dodge Park2021Earlville Dodge ParkDowntown2021DowntownWinter is the off-season at the Route 34 drive-in movie theater near Earlville, Illinois2020Winter is the off-season at the Route 34 drive-in mov…An old but sturdy, unpainted barn and an up-to-date trailer home near Earlville, Illinois2020An old but sturdy, unpainted barn and an up-to-date t…A patch of snow accentuates the all-white look of this farmstead near Earlville, Illinois2020A patch of snow accentuates the all-white look of thi…Dusk approaches along the railroad tracks near Earlville, Illinois2020Dusk approaches along the railroad tracks near Earlvi…Countryside sunset near Earlville, Illinois2020Countryside sunset near Earlville, Illinois20030427 01 Amtrak200320030427 01 AmtrakUntitled photo2003Untitled photo
On the map

Earlville on the map, 1951 to 1971

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

Earlville on the 1951 USGS mapEarlville on the 1971 USGS map1951Earlville 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 Earlville.

People over time

Earlville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,778

Between 963 and 1,778 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Earlville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Gary K. WolfAmerican author · b. 1941
Fritz CrislerAmerican football, basketball, and baseball pla… · b. 1899
Frederick C. WilliamsAmerican politician in California · b. 1855
Steve BehelAmerican baseball player · b. 1860
D
Dave DupeeAmerican basketball player · b. 1916

Questions about Earlville’s history

What year was Earlville founded?

The Earlville post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Earlville rank for history?

Earlville is more historic than 72% 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 Earlville?

31% of Earlville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1969.

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 (8), the Library of Congress (5), 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), 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.