The Fayetteville Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Darmstadt (1864), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 348 in 18802020 census: 1,535186 years
How historic is Fayetteville Township?
A−
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Fayetteville Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Fayetteville Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fayetteville Township is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fayetteville Township’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 Fayetteville Township’s 18.8 sits above most of its state (86% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±6.0 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 Fayetteville Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost half of its people between 1880 and 1930, then more than doubled.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fayetteville Township’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Fayetteville Township on the map, 1912 to 1991
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fayetteville Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1912New Athens 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 Fayetteville Township.
The story so far
Fayetteville Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fayetteville Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Fayetteville, officially the Village of Fayetteville is a village on the Kaskaskia River. Because of that, the village is nicknamed the Gateway to the Kaskaskia. Fayetteville is named after Marquis de Lafayette, a french general who fought for the US in the revolutionary war. Fayetteville is in Fayettville Township, St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Fayetteville had a population of 302. And as of the 2026 estimate, Fayetteville has a population of 282.
Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,668 to 1,535 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Fayetteville Township, 1864 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Fayetteville Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fayetteville Township rank for history?
Fayetteville Township is more historic than 81% 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 Fayetteville Township?
14% of Fayetteville Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 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.
