From McLeansboro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How McLeansboro began
When was McLeansboro founded?
1824
The McLeansboro post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hamilton (1842), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 221 in 18502020 census: 2,675202 years
How historic is McLeansboro?
A−
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first McLeansboro post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives McLeansboro’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McLeansboro is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #143 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of McLeansboro’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so McLeansboro’s 15.0 sits above most of its state (85% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about McLeansboro’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The city was named for Dr. William McLean, an early settler who had resided there in 1821.
On September 26, 1911 one of the first air mail deliveries was made to McLeansboro by pilot Horace Kearney. In 1940 a post office lobby mural was commissioned honoring the event, depicting a plane flying over a grassy field surrounded by circus tents and residents of McLeansboro.
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.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
McLeansboro’s post office has been open since 1824. Another post office, Hamilton, opened and closed inside today’s town.
McLeansboro
1824–today
Hamilton
1842–1847
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Diamond City
Gone or out of use
First Presbyterian ChurchchurchMcLeansboro HospitalhospitalVickers Memorial Hospitalhospital
1cemetery inside McLeansboro
Odd Fellows
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about McLeansboro’s history
What year was McLeansboro founded?
The McLeansboro post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does McLeansboro rank for history?
McLeansboro is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #143 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in McLeansboro?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Aaron G. Cloud House (listed 1978, the first).
How old are the homes in McLeansboro?
17% of McLeansboro’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1956.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1917
2012
2012
2012
