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History · Illiopolis

Illiopolis’ post office opened in 1867, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1917 on, and the census since 1870.

1867first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Dual Freq · CC BY 2.5
Quick answers

How Illiopolis began

When was Illiopolis founded?

1867

The Illiopolis post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Illiopolis Station (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 395 in 18702020 census: 846159 years
Founding year: the first Illiopolis post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Illiopolis’ 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.Old housesHalf of Illiopolis’ homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Illiopolis’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Illiopolis came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Illiopolis.

Read it all →

The name was formed from Illinois and -polis, a Greek suffix meaning "city".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Illiopolis, 1881–1912

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

The township of Wheatfield was set off from Illiopolis in 1875, and its history is therefore identified with it from the beginning, almost to the present time. The township of Illiopolis being so large, about seventy-two square miles, it was thought best for the convenience of all concerned, that i…
History of Sangamon County, Illinois1881 · page 1040Read the page →
Read the text

The township of Wheatfield was set off from Illiopolis in 1875, and its history is therefore identified with it from the beginning, almost to the present time. The township of Illiopolis being so large, about seventy-two square miles, it was thought best for the convenience of all concerned, that it should be divided, and accordingly three and one-half tiers of sections on the

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the State capital began to be agitated, a beautiful city was laid out by John Taylor, Eli Blankenship and Governor Duncan, about a half mile south of the present village of Illiopolis, on the northwest quarter of section eighteen, to which was given the same name — Illiopolis, the City of Illinois.…
History of Sangamon County, Illinois1881 · page 919Read the page →
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the State capital began to be agitated, a beautiful city was laid out by John Taylor, Eli Blankenship and Governor Duncan, about a half mile south of the present village of Illiopolis, on the northwest quarter of section eighteen, to which was given the same name — Illiopolis, the City of Illinois. The location of the village wau described as the geographical center of the State,

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
and lived there until his death, and on this farm Samuel M. lived until 1863, being partly reared by his grandparents. Mr. Harbert began farming on his own account in Illiopolis Township and lived there until 1909, then moved to the village of Illiopolis, where he owns a comfortable home, and he ha…
Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Sangamon County1912 · page 1287Read the page →
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and lived there until his death, and on this farm Samuel M. lived until 1863, being partly reared by his grandparents. Mr. Harbert began farming on his own account in Illiopolis Township and lived there until 1909, then moved to the village of Illiopolis, where he owns a comfortable home, and he has since lived retired from business activities and cares.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
tion in the country schools. He then engaged in farming on his own account, spending several years in Logan County and then locating near Illiopolis, where the remainder of his life was spent. His widow has lived in the village of Illiopolis for the past four years.
Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Sangamon County1912 · page 1035Read the page →
Read the text

tion in the country schools. He then engaged in farming on his own account, spending several years in Logan County and then locating near Illiopolis, where the remainder of his life was spent. His widow has lived in the village of Illiopolis for the past four years.

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

Illiopolis, 1858 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Illiopolis Station post office opens
  3. 1867Post officeThe Illiopolis Station post office closes
  4. 1867Post officeThe Illiopolis post office opens
  5. 1884Born hereRay Demmitt is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Illiopolis, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Turner, Charles Alvin, 1887 (Illiopolis, Illinois) [ANS Chapman brothers business correspondence]Date?Turner, Charles Alvin, 1887 (Illiopolis, Illinois) [A…Book
Today1 recent
Illiopolis Illinois Township Building2007Illiopolis Illinois Township Building
On the map

Illiopolis on the map, 1954 to 1982

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

Illiopolis on the 1954 USGS mapIlliopolis on the 1982 USGS map1954Niantic 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 Illiopolis.

Every building

Illiopolis, building by building, 1917

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 sheet.

Illiopolis fire insurance map, 1917, sheet 11917Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Illiopolis, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,122

Between 395 and 1,122 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Illiopolis’s post office has been open since 1867. Another post office, Illiopolis Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Illiopolis Station
1858–1867
Illiopolis
1867–today
18501940today

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

Questions about Illiopolis’ history

What year was Illiopolis founded?

The Illiopolis post office opened in 1867, 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 →
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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 (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, 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.