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History · Muncie

Muncie’s post office opened in 1876, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1880.

1876first post office
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Omnedon · Public domain
Quick answers

How Muncie began

When was Muncie founded?

1876

The Muncie post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 81 in 18802020 census: 157150 years
Founding year: the first Muncie post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Muncie’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 Muncie are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 324 in 1900; 157 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Muncie’s homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Muncie’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Muncie’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

Muncie, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 324

Peaked at 324 in 1900; 157 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Muncie, in brief

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

Muncie is a village in Oakwood Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Muncie had a population of 157.

Its first post office opened in 1876. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 146 to 157 (+8%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Muncie in 1930

Passages that mention Muncie, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The boyhood of Sylvanus J. Wade was spent in Boone County, Indiana, and he attended the district schools. He also lived at Georgia City and Pierce City, Missouri. In 1876 Mr. Wade came to Muncie, where he was employed in the mines until February, 1914. Since that time he has served as postmaster of…
History of Vermilion County, Illinois1930 · page 778Read the page →
Read the text

The boyhood of Sylvanus J. Wade was spent in Boone County, Indiana, and he attended the district schools. He also lived at Georgia City and Pierce City, Missouri. In 1876 Mr. Wade came to Muncie, where he was employed in the mines until February, 1914. Since that time he has served as postmaster of Muncie and also conducts a general store.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
He then became interested in the mercantile business at Steam Corner, Indiana, and from there went to Muncie, Illinois, where he engaged in the grain and stock business. He also constructed a store and served as postmaster at Muncie. For several years he had charge of a fine tract of land, containi…
History of Vermilion County, Illinois1930Read the page →
Read the text

He then became interested in the mercantile business at Steam Corner, Indiana, and from there went to Muncie, Illinois, where he engaged in the grain and stock business. He also constructed a store and served as postmaster at Muncie. For several years he had charge of a fine tract of land, containing 1,000 acres, known as the "Fox Farm."

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Muncie, 1876 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876Post officeThe Muncie post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 324
  5. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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

Muncie on the map, 1943 to 1978

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

Muncie on the 1943 USGS mapMuncie on the 1957 USGS mapMuncie on the 1968 USGS mapMuncie on the 1978 USGS map1943Fithian 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 Muncie.

Famous people

Famous people close to Muncie

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

See all →
M
Marianne DickersonAmerican distance runner · b. 1960
Frank HanlyAmerican politician · b. 1863
L
Lee MiglinAmerican real estate developer · b. 1924
B
Bert GrahamBaseball player · b. 1886
Donald E. RunyonAmerican World War II flying ace · b. 1913
J
Joe CarpeAmerican footballer · b. 1903

Questions about Muncie’s history

What year was Muncie founded?

The Muncie post office opened in 1876, 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, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.