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History · Freeman Spur

Freeman Spur’s post office opened in 1921, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1920.

1921first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Freeman Spur’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Freeman Spur began

When was Freeman Spur founded?

1921

The Freeman Spur post office opened in 1921, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 325 in 19202020 census: 268105 years
Founding year: the first Freeman Spur post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Freeman Spur’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 451 in 1950; 268 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Freeman Spur’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · People over time

Freeman Spur, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 451

Peaked at 451 in 1950; 268 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Freeman Spur came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Freeman Spur.

Read it all →

Freeman Spur is rooted in several small communities that sprang up in the early 1900s with the opening of the Possum Ridge coal mine. These small communities voted to merge and incorporate as "Freeman Spur" in 1913. The village is named for James R. Freeman, who owned the land upon which the mine was located.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Freeman Spur, 1909 to 1950

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1921Post officeThe Freeman Spur post office opens
  4. 1939In the archiveMiners' homes. Freeman Spur, Illinois
  5. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 451
By decade

Freeman Spur, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s6 items
Miners' homes. Freeman Spur, Illinois1939Miners' homes. Freeman Spur, IllinoisMiners' homes. Freeman Spur, Illinois1939Miners' homes. Freeman Spur, IllinoisMiners' homes. Freeman Spur, Illinois1939Miners' homes. Freeman Spur, IllinoisMiners' homes with coal tipple in background. Freeman Spur, Illinois1939Miners' homes with coal tipple in background. Freeman…Franklin County Coal Company mine number five. Freeman Spur, Illinois1939Franklin County Coal Company mine number five. Freema…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Miners' homes with coal tipple in background. Freeman Spur, Illinois1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Miners' homes wi…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Freeman-Spur-water-tower-il2021Freeman-Spur-water-tower-ilFreeman-Spur-from-cemetery-il2021Freeman-Spur-from-cemetery-ilFreeman-Spur-Village-Hall-PO-il2021Freeman-Spur-Village-Hall-PO-il
On the map

Freeman Spur on the map, 1909 to 1941

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

Freeman Spur on the 1909 USGS mapFreeman Spur on the 1941 USGS map1909West Frankfort 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 Freeman Spur.

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.

Miners' homes. Freeman Spur, Illinois
Retake this viewMiners' homes. Freeman Spur, Illinois, 1939

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Freeman Spur’s post office has been open since 1921.

Gone or out of use
Union Schoolschool

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

Help out

Finish Freeman Spur’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMiners' homes. Freeman Spur, Illinois: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Denning TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Freeman Spur’s history

What year was Freeman Spur founded?

The Freeman Spur post office opened in 1921, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (6), Wikipedia, 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.