Glen Carbon’s post office opened in 1892, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #468 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Glen Carbon was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Its Register listings are the Glen Carbon Grade School and the Glen Carbon Village Hall and Firehouse. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1900.
The Glen Carbon post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Peters (1885) and Mont (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,348 in 19002020 census: 13,842134 years
How historic is Glen Carbon?
C+
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Glen Carbon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Glen Carbon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Glen Carbon is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #468 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Glen Carbon’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 Glen Carbon’s 1.4 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 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 Glen Carbon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1801, Colonel Samuel Judy received a military grant for 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land near the base of the bluffs just north of Judys Branch, and became one of the first permanent settlers of Madison County. The land was called Goshen Settlement, after the biblical land of Goshen. It was renamed "Glen Carbon" to reflect its coal mining heritage.
Glen Carbon was incorporated as a village in 1892. It operated many coal mines until 1958. The Madison Coal Corp. that helped to found the town, shut down in 1931. Another industry was the St. Louis Press Brick Company, which burned down in 1906.
Passages that mention Glen Carbon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People1912 · page 658Read the page →
Read the text
on to it. Later he went into business in the village of Glen Carbon. Mr. and Mrs. I’rimas had five children, three boys ami two girls, all of whom are living (1911 ). The eldest is Joseph M., the second, Antonia, wife of Ed¬ ward Smith. William is the third, named after his father. Julia, the wife of Walter Staman, is the fourth and Rudolph is the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People1912 · page 1118Read the page →
Read the text
Louis, Peoria & Northern Railroad, now the Illinois Central Railroad, and he continued with this corporation for two years and a half. He then returned to Glen Carbon and for three years was employed in a brick yard. He then took up his residence in Peters Sta¬ tion, and has been here for the past six years, two years in business for himself. He began
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
Glen Carbon, 1885 to 1954
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Glen Carbon post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Glen Carbon rank for history?
Glen Carbon is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #468 of 768 in Illinois. 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.
What is on the National Register in Glen Carbon?
Two places: the Glen Carbon Grade School (listed 2014) and the Glen Carbon Village Hall and Firehouse (2018).
How old are the homes in Glen Carbon?
5% of Glen Carbon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
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