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History · Hillsdale

Hillsdale’s post office opened in 1871, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hillsdale’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hillsdale began

When was Hillsdale founded?

1871

The Hillsdale post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 37 in 18802020 census: 417155 years
Founding year: the first Hillsdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Hillsdale’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 731 in 1980; 417 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Hillsdale’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hillsdale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hillsdale’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view19960106 23 BNSF: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Hillsdale, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 731

Peaked at 731 in 1980; 417 people lived here in 2020.

8 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Hillsdale, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hillsdale yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Hillsdale is a village in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was around 531 at the time of the 2020 census, up from around 523 at the 2010 census.

Its first post office opened in 1871. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 523 to 417 (-20%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Hillsdale in 1885

Passages that mention Hillsdale, cut from the printed page as they were published.

station was established by the Sterling & Rock Island, now the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, Railroad Company, and around this James Hill laid out a village in 1868, known as Hillsdale. It is the shipping point for a portion of Canoe Creek and Zuma Townships, as well as some of the citizens of Whit…
Portrait and biographical album of Rock Island County, Illinois1885 · page 788Read the page →
Read the text

station was established by the Sterling & Rock Island, now the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, Railroad Company, and around this James Hill laid out a village in 1868, known as Hillsdale. It is the shipping point for a portion of Canoe Creek and Zuma Townships, as well as some of the citizens of Whiteside and Henry Counties. The village is small and unincorporated, but has at present two

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

Hillsdale, 1871 to 1996

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Hillsdale post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 731
  6. 1996In the archive19960106 23 BNSF
By decade

Hillsdale, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
19960106 23 BNSF199619960106 23 BNSF
On the map

Hillsdale on the map, 1952 to 1982

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

Hillsdale on the 1952 USGS mapHillsdale on the 1982 USGS map1952Erie 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 Hillsdale.

Famous people

Famous people close to Hillsdale

Nobody well known was born in Hillsdale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Buffalo BillAmerican frontiersman and showman · b. 1846
R
Robert Almer HarperAmerican botanist · b. 1862
Clyde Howard TavennerAmerican politician · b. 1882
Bill MalarkeyAmerican baseball player · b. 1878
J
Jimmy JohnsonAmerican baseball player and manager · b. 1947
E
Eric WiselyAmerican mixed martial arts fighter · b. 1984

Questions about Hillsdale’s history

What year was Hillsdale founded?

The Hillsdale post office opened in 1871, 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 (1), 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.