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History · Kampsville

Kampsville’s post office opened in 1872, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Kamp Store. Below: maps from 1930 on and the census since 1880.

1872first post office
1on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Kampsville began

When was Kampsville founded?

1872

The Kampsville post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Farrow Town (1857), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 79 in 18802020 census: 310154 years
Founding year: the first Kampsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Kampsville’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 Kampsville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 506 in 1910; 310 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Kampsville’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kampsville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kampsville’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
People over time

Kampsville, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 506

Peaked at 506 in 1910; 310 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Kampsville, in brief

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

Kampsville is a village in Crater and Carlin precincts, Calhoun County, Illinois, United States, located on the west bank of the Illinois River. The population was 310 at the 2020 census. The Kampsville ferry crosses the Illinois River and connects the Kampsville segment of Illinois Route 108 with its remainder in Greene County. The ferry is free and runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is one of two permanent ferries operated by the Illinois Department of Transportation. The village is the base of operations for the Center for American Archeology, an educational and research organization dedicated to the archeological understanding of the Native Americans and of the European settlers…

Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 328 to 310 (-5%).

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

Timeline

Kampsville, 1857 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Farrow Town post office opens
  3. 1866Post officeThe Farrow Town post office closes
  4. 1872Post officeThe Kampsville post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 506
  7. 1930On 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Kampsville on the map, 1930 to 1980

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

Kampsville on the 1930 USGS mapKampsville on the 1950 USGS mapKampsville on the 1980 USGS map1930Pearl 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 Kampsville.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Kampsville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1994
Kamp Store
Kamp Store
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Commercial1
Kamp StoreCommercial

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Kampsville

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

See all →
Clarence Andrew CannonAmerican politician · b. 1879
Marc HillAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1952
Paul MeloanMajor League Baseball outfielder · b. 1888
R
Roy Vernon ScottAmerican historian · b. 1927
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Kampsville’s post office has been open since 1872. Another post office, Farrow Town, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Farrow Town
1857–1866
Kampsville
1872–today
18501940today
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Kampsville
FarrowSaint AnselmSchumann

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Bluffdale Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Kampsville’s history

What year was Kampsville founded?

The Kampsville post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Kampsville?

One place: the Kamp Store (listed 1994).

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 Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.