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Kings, IL Sign 01Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5
–Not graded
History · Kings

Kings’ post office opened in 1875, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1971 on.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5
Quick answers

How Kings began

When was Kings founded?

1875

The Kings post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 146151 years
Founding year: the first Kings post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Kings’ 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 Kings are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Kings’ homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kings’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kings’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 so far

Kings, in brief

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

Kings is an unincorporated community in Ogle County, Illinois, United States, northwest of Rochelle.

Its first post office opened in 1875.

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

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

Kings on the map in 1971

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kings.

Kings on the 1971 USGS map1971Kings sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kings.

Famous people

Famous people close to Kings

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

See all →
J
Joan AllenAmerican actress · b. 1956
Carl BarksAmerican cartoonist · b. 1901
Albert SpaldingAmerican pitcher, manager, and business executi… · b. 1850
Lloyd IngrahamActor, film director · b. 1874
William CourtrightActor · b. 1848
Frank WhiteAmerican politician · b. 1856

Questions about Kings’ history

What year was Kings founded?

The Kings post office opened in 1875, 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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.