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History · Medora

Medora’s post office opened in 1866, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1925 on and the census since 1880.

1866first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Medora began

When was Medora founded?

1866

The Medora post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Rhoades' Point (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 397 in 18802020 census: 379160 years
Founding year: the first Medora post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Medora’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 Medora are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 532 in 1980; 379 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Medora’s homes were built before 1952.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Medora’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Medora’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

Medora, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 532

Peaked at 532 in 1980; 379 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Medora, in brief

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

Medora is a village in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 379 at the 2020 census, down from 419 in 2010.

Its first post office opened in 1866. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 419 to 379 (-10%).

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

Timeline

Medora, 1851 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe Rhoades' Point post office opens
  3. 1863Post officeThe Rhoades' Point post office closes
  4. 1866Post officeThe Medora post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1925On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 532
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

Medora on the map, 1925 to 1983

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

Medora on the 1925 USGS mapMedora on the 1983 USGS map1925Brighton 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 Medora.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Medora’s post office has been open since 1866. Another post office, Rhoades' Point, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Rhoades' Point
1851–1863
Medora
1866–today
18501940today

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

Questions about Medora’s history

What year was Medora founded?

The Medora post office opened in 1866, 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 →
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 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.