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History · Naples

Naples’ post office opened in 1830, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1928 on and the census since 1880.

1830first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Naples began

When was Naples founded?

1830

The Naples post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1839.

First census: 442 in 18802020 census: 100196 years
Founding year: the first Naples post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1839.

What stands out about Naples’ 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 Naples are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1830: 196 years of Naples.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Naples’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Naples, 1830 to 1974

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830Post officeThe Naples post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1974Post officeThe Naples post office closes
The story so far

Naples, in brief

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

Naples is an incorporated town in Scott County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 100 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Jacksonville Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1830. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 130 to 100 (-23%).

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

By decade

Naples, decade by decade

Today2 recent
2022-09-09 18 58 11 UTC minus 5 Aerial view of the Illinois River along the border of Scott County, Morgan County and P…20222022-09-09 18 58 11 UTC minus 5 Aerial view of the Il…2022-09-09 18 58 10 UTC minus 5 Aerial view of the Illinois River along the border of Scott County, Morgan County and P…20222022-09-09 18 58 10 UTC minus 5 Aerial view of the Il…
On the map

Naples on the map, 1928 to 1980

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

Naples on the 1928 USGS mapNaples on the 1931 USGS mapNaples on the 1975 USGS mapNaples 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 Naples.

People over time

Naples, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 457

Between 92 and 457 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Naples

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

See all →
Ryan CarnesAmerican actor · b. 1982
Greene Vardiman BlackAmerican dentistry academic · b. 1836
Timothy M. RoseAmerican actor and puppeteer · b. 1942
F
Frank SkinnerAmerican film composer and arranger · b. 1897
William B. PineAmerican politician · b. 1877
L
Lew HitchAmerican basketball player · b. 1929
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Naples had its own post office from 1830 to 1974.

Naples
1830–1974
18301930today

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

Questions about Naples’ history

What year was Naples founded?

The Naples post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1839.

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 (2), 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.