The Fayetteville post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Jefferson (1843), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 302186 years
Founding year: the first Fayetteville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Fayetteville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fayetteville 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 366 to 302 (-17%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Fayetteville in 1881
Passages that mention Fayetteville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of St. Clair County, Illinois. With illustrations ... and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1881Read the page →
Read the text
JEFPEESON Was platted Sept. 13, 1836, some months before Fayetteville, by Pennington Power, Aaron Land, and Fielder Power. Its location is on the west bank of the Kaskaskia, about three miles above Fayetteville. A saw mill was built, two stores were opened — one by Francis Wilderman, the other by Marshall, and all seemed merry as a summer day. The destruction of the saw mill by fire destroyed all hope of making a city of Jefferson. July 29, 1865, it was var
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of St. Clair County, Illinois. With illustrations ... and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1881 · page 162Read the page →
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tion, caused by cold contracted during a sick call. He was succeeded by Rev. Trogan from 1865 to 1868. From 1868 to 1873 Father Oberbrantacher was pastor of the congregation. Father Merbach, of Fayetteville, attended to the congregation from 1873 to 1874. On June 16th, 1874, the present Rector, Rev. A. Wirtschoreck took charge of the congregation He added to the church a fine steeple 118 feet high, in the year 1876. It contains three bells, the only belfry with three bells in St. Clair county. The
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
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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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 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.
