Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1864.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Herrin’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Herrin is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #298 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Herrin’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 Herrin’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1816.
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 (±4.0 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Herrin’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The settlement of Herrin started out as scattered settlers on Herring's Prairie named for the first permanent settler Isaac Herring, a Baptist preacher. Later, his son-in-law David Herrin arrived and the similarity in names led to the eventual shortening of the name to just Herrin's Prairie. The trails from Jordan's fort to Humphreys' ford on the Big Muddy River intersected the old trail from Lusk's ferry at modern-day Golconda to Kaskaskia, which was first settled by French colonists.
Passages that mention Herrin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Williamson County, Illinois, in the World War1919 · page 335Read the page →
Read the text
The sales force of an institution of this kind is also the builders of the business — the sales force of the Herrin branch are A. K. King, Du Quoin, city salesman, 14 years service; R. E. Bandy, Herrin, 5 years' service; and Fred Mosier, Herrin, 5 years' service.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Williamson County, Illinois, in the World War1919 · page 338Read the page →
Read the text
Southside Supply Company '"PHE Southside Supply Company, a well known general merchandise establishment of Herrin, southwest corner of 14th and Walnut Streets, was incorporated in 1917. It succeeded the Harry Dale store which served largely the employees of the St.
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
Herrin, 1816 to 1939
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
In 1816, according to Wikidata. Herrin’s post office opened in 1864, and the census of 1900 counted 1,559 people here.
How does Herrin rank for history?
Herrin is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #298 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.
How old are the homes in Herrin?
22% of Herrin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (4), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1880
1939
1939
1939