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History · Milton

Milton’s post office opened in 1837, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1924 on and the census since 1870.

1837first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Milton began

When was Milton founded?

1837

The Milton post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 354 in 18702020 census: 214189 years
Founding year: the first Milton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Milton’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 Milton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 457 in 1880; 214 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Milton.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Milton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Milton’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

Milton, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 457

Peaked at 457 in 1880; 214 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Timeline

Milton, 1837 to 1924

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Milton post office opens
  3. 1880CensusPopulation peaks at 457
  4. 20th century
  5. 1924On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Milton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Milton.

Read it all →

Charles E. Bolin (1843–1924), Illinois state representative and businessman, lived in Milton.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.
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On the map

Milton on the map, 1924 to 1981

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

Milton on the 1924 USGS mapMilton on the 1981 USGS map1924Griggsville 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 Milton.

Questions about Milton’s history

What year was Milton founded?

The Milton post office opened in 1837, 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 Wikipedia, 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.