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History · Keyesport

Keyesport’s post office opened in 1847, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1968 on.

1847first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Keyesport’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Keyesport began

When was Keyesport founded?

1847

The Keyesport post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1887.

2020 census: 406179 years
Founding year: the first Keyesport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1887.The full story ↓

What stands out about Keyesport’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.Deep rootsA post office since 1847: 179 years of Keyesport.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Keyesport’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Keyesport’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 viewKeyesport Illinois with Carlyle Lake fi…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Keyesport, 1847 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1847Post officeThe Keyesport post office opens
  3. 1886Born hereFrank Harter is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1908Born hereWilbur Clark is born here
  6. 1968In the archiveKeyesport Illinois with Carlyle Lake filling
The story

How Keyesport came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Keyesport.

Read it all →

Keyesport was named in honor of its postmaster, Thomas Keyes. It is on the boundary between Clinton County and Bond counties. It was platted in 1846 and incorporated as a village in 1897.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Keyesport, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1960s1 item
Keyesport Illinois with Carlyle Lake fillingc. 1968Keyesport Illinois with Carlyle Lake filling
1970s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Keyesport Illinois with Carlyle Lake filling
Retake this viewKeyesport Illinois with Carlyle Lake filling, c. 1968

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Keyesport’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Keyesport

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
F
Frank HarterAmerican baseball player · b. 1886
Wilbur ClarkAmerican businessman · b. 1908
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Keyesport’s post office has been open since 1847.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Keyesport Landing
1cemetery inside Keyesport
Keyesport

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

Questions about Keyesport’s history

What year was Keyesport founded?

The Keyesport post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1887.

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), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.