Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Ivesdale

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Ivesdale

Ivesdale’s post office opened in 1866, and 53% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1880.

1866first post office
0on the National Register
53%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Dual Freq · CC BY 2.5
Quick answers

How Ivesdale began

When was Ivesdale founded?

1866

The Ivesdale post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 235 in 18802020 census: 265160 years
Founding year: the first Ivesdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ivesdale’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Ivesdale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Ivesdale’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 476 in 1900; 265 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ivesdale’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Ivesdale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ivesdale.

Read it all →

Ivesdale is served by Saint Joseph Catholic Parish and is home to Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church (built in 1894) which is known locally as "The Cathedral of the Cornfield".

Bernard Alblinger, who served as mayor from 1963 until his death in 2011, was the second-longest-serving mayor in the history of Illinois, serving a total of 48 consecutive years.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Ivesdale, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 476

Peaked at 476 in 1900; 265 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Ivesdale, 1866 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Ivesdale post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 476
  5. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Ivesdale, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Ivesdale, IL2008Ivesdale, ILIvesdale, IL 22008Ivesdale, IL 2Ivesdale Illinois Post Office and Water Tower2007Ivesdale Illinois Post Office and Water TowerIvesdale Illinois Fire Station2007Ivesdale Illinois Fire Station
On the map

Ivesdale on the map, 1950 to 1998

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

Ivesdale on the 1950 USGS mapIvesdale on the 1975 USGS mapIvesdale on the 1983 USGS mapIvesdale on the 1998 USGS map1950Tuscola 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 Ivesdale.

Questions about Ivesdale’s history

What year was Ivesdale founded?

The Ivesdale post office opened in 1866, 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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.