Godfrey’s post office opened in 1841, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #341 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Godfrey was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Its Register listing is the Godfrey, Benjamin, Memorial Chapel. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1880.
The Godfrey post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Melville (1874), North Alton (1876) and Clifton Terrace (1893), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 85 in 18802020 census: 17,825185 years
How historic is Godfrey?
B
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Godfrey post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Godfrey’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Godfrey is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #341 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Godfrey’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 Godfrey’s 0.6 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±2.0 points) is firm at this size. 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 Godfrey’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
The village is named for Captain Benjamin Godfrey, a native New Englander, who arrived in the area in 1832. 1838 saw the establishment of the Monticello Female Seminary, later renamed Monticello College. Captain Godfrey, the father of eight daughters, was an advocate of higher education for women and made a large donation of funds and land for the college. Monticello operated as a two-year college for women until the campus was sold in 1970 to establish Lewis and Clark Community College. Monticello's final class graduated in 1971.
The nearby mouth of the Missouri River was the starting point for the expedition of Lewis and Clark.
Passages that mention Godfrey, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Madison County, Illinois ... With biographical sketches ..1882 · page 506Read the page →
Read the text
In the year 18 >2, the firm of Godfrey, Gilman & Co. began operations in Alton, and for some time transacted a larger business than any other firm in the state. Captain Godfrey first became a resident of Godfrey township in 1834 ; he j purchased a stone residence built by Calvin Kiley, a mile i north of the present village of Godfrey, to which he subsequently added a wing on the north, building it also a halfstory higher, thus completing it as it stands at present.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Madison County, Illinois ... With biographical sketches ..1882 · page 275Read the page →
Read the text
This institution (projected and founded by Benjamin Godfrey,) was opened for the reception of students on the 11th of April, 1838. It is situated at Godfrey, Madison County, 111., on the route of the Chicago &■ Alton Railroad, twenty-five miles from St. Louis, Mo., and four from Alton.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 19121912 · page 516Read the page →
Read the text
The northwestern township of Madison county is Godfrey, so named for Captain Ben¬ jamin Godfrey, one of its early settlers and its largest land owner, of whom more is said in other chapters and in the sketch of Monticello Seminary, of which he was the founder.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People1912 · page 516Read the page →
Read the text
The northwestern township of Madison county is Godfrey, so named for Captain Ben¬ jamin Godfrey, one of its early settlers and its largest land owner, of whom more is said in other chapters and in the sketch of Monticello Seminary, of which he was the founder.
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.
On the map
Godfrey on the map, 1927 to 1994
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Godfrey. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1927Alton 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 Godfrey.
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.
Retake this viewHABS ILL,60 -GODF,1- (sheet 0 of 6) - Godfrey Homestead, Delhi Road, 1933
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Godfrey’s page.
The Godfrey post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Godfrey rank for history?
Godfrey is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #341 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 Godfrey?
One place: the Godfrey, Benjamin, Memorial Chapel (listed 1979).
How old are the homes in Godfrey?
6% of Godfrey’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
Date?
Date?
2021
2021
