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History · Joy

Joy dates to 1869, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1880.

1869founded
0on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Joy began

When was Joy founded?

1869

Joy dates its founding to 1869 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 87 in 18802020 census: 372157 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1873.

What stands out about Joy’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 Joy are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 529 in 1920; 372 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Joy’s homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Joy’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Joy, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 529

Peaked at 529 in 1920; 372 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Joy, in brief

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

Joy is a village in Mercer County, Illinois, United States. The population was 372 as of the 2020 census. The village was founded in 1869 and named after the president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, J. F. Joy.

Joy was established in 1869. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 417 to 372 (-11%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Joy in 1882

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

In addition to those church societies in the town of Millersburgand 'the village of Joy,, there are the Seventh Day Adventists church at the Marsh school-house in the southeast part of the township ; the Peniel church, four miles south of Millersburg, and the free Presbyterian church, familiarly kn…
History of Mercer County1882 · page 224Read the page →
Read the text

In addition to those church societies in the town of Millersburgand 'the village of Joy,, there are the Seventh Day Adventists church at the Marsh school-house in the southeast part of the township ; the Peniel church, four miles south of Millersburg, and the free Presbyterian church, familiarly known as the old brick church a half mile south of the Peniel church. • The Seventh Day Adventists are of recent date in Millersburg township, being as late as 1871 ; though there was a society of this

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Methodist Episcopal church society now located at Joy. as the principles of freedom advocated by the two societies were one and the same. The society was reincorjtorated under the name of the Methodist Episco})al church, which held its meeting here regularly till the present church building wjis er…
History of Mercer County1882 · page 226Read the page →
Read the text

Methodist Episcopal church society now located at Joy. as the principles of freedom advocated by the two societies were one and the same. The society was reincorjtorated under the name of the Methodist Episco})al church, which held its meeting here regularly till the present church building wjis erected in Joy.

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

Joy, 1869 to 1935

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869
    FoundingJoy is established
  3. 1873Post officeThe Joy post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1910Born herePaul G. Baker is born here
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 529
  7. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Joy on the map, 1935 to 1991

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

Joy on the 1935 USGS mapJoy on the 1941 USGS mapJoy on the 1953 USGS mapJoy on the 1975 USGS mapJoy on the 1991 USGS map1935Keithsburg 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 Joy.

Questions about Joy’s history

What year was Joy founded?

In 1869, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Joy’s post office opened in 1873, and the census of 1880 counted 87 people here.

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 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.