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History · Meredosia

Meredosia’s post office opened in 1832, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1880.

1832first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Meredosia’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Meredosia began

When was Meredosia founded?

1832

The Meredosia post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 750 in 18802020 census: 826194 years
Founding year: the first Meredosia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Meredosia’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 1,272 in 1980; 826 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1898 to 1910, drew every building in Meredosia.Mystery photos8 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.Deep rootsA post office since 1832: 194 years of Meredosia.
★ What stands out · People over time

Meredosia, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,272

Peaked at 1,272 in 1980; 826 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Every building

Meredosia, building by building, 1898–1910

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.

Meredosia fire insurance map, 1898, sheet 11898Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Help out

Start Meredosia’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Meredosia’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo8 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Meredosia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Meredosia.

Read it all →

In 2011, Ameren Energy Resources Company announced the closure of its power station in Meredosia. The closure resulted in a loss of over 50 jobs, a major economic hit for the small community. The plant closure was related to the cost of meeting environmental regulations. The plant may reopen at some point as a facility to test clean coal technology, according to Ameren.

In June 2018 the community celebrated the opening of a new bridge over the Illinois River. The former bridge, constructed in 1936, had become too narrow for modern traffic, and was dismantled during the summer of 2018. The bridge not only links Meredosia to Quincy, Illinois, but serves as an important transportation link between western Illinois and the center of the state.

ChaptersClosing of Ameren power stationNew bridge

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Meredosia, 1832 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1832Post officeThe Meredosia post office opens
  3. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Illinois - Morgan County - ED 69-28, ED 6…
  4. 1879In the archiveMeredosia Bridge, Meredosia, Illinois (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 3c7a7f7b4f9602977850f…
  5. 1895In the archiveFMIB 33876 United States Fish Commission Ponds
  6. 1897Born hereFrank Skinner is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,272
By decade

Meredosia, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1890s3 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Illinois - Morgan County - ED 69-28, ED 69-29, ED 69-30, ED 69-31, ED 6…18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Illin…Meredosia Bridge, Meredosia, Illinois (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 3c7a7f7b4f9602977850f680d68d87bb1879Meredosia Bridge, Meredosia, Illinois (approximately …FMIB 33876 United States Fish Commission Ponds1895FMIB 33876 United States Fish Commission Ponds
1900s–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
Date unknown8 to date
John B. LeSage (ALP BIB 2780)Date?John B. LeSage (ALP BIB 2780)John B. LeSage (ALP BIB 2781)Date?John B. LeSage (ALP BIB 2781)Lysander B. Folsom (ALP BIB 2300)Date?Lysander B. Folsom (ALP BIB 2300)Lysander B. Folsom (ALP BIB 2301)Date?Lysander B. Folsom (ALP BIB 2301)Robert Cromwell (ALP BIB 2105)Date?Robert Cromwell (ALP BIB 2105)Robert Cromwell (ALP BIB 2106)Date?Robert Cromwell (ALP BIB 2106)Simeon W. White (ALP BIB 2741)Date?Simeon W. White (ALP BIB 2741)Simeon W. White (ALP BIB 2742)Date?Simeon W. White (ALP BIB 2742)
Today6 recent
Red Chevy Truck2025Red Chevy TruckMeredosia, Illinois2025Meredosia, IllinoisMeredosia, Illinois2025Meredosia, IllinoisMeredosia First Baptist Church2025Meredosia First Baptist ChurchMeredosia Station2017Meredosia StationNorthern cross monument2015Northern cross monument
On the map

Meredosia on the map, 1928 to 1980

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

Meredosia on the 1928 USGS mapMeredosia on the 1931 USGS mapMeredosia on the 1975 USGS mapMeredosia on the 1980 USGS map1928Meredosia 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 Meredosia.

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Illinois - Morgan County - ED 69-28, ED 69-29, ED 69-30, ED 69-31, ED 6…
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Illinois - Morgan County - ED 69-28, ED 69-29, ED 69-30, ED 69-31, ED 6…, 1850

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

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Chambersburg TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Meredosia’s history

What year was Meredosia founded?

The Meredosia post office opened in 1832, 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 Wikimedia Commons (17), 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.