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History · Nebo

Nebo’s post office opened in 1857, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1930 on and the census since 1880.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Nebo began

When was Nebo founded?

1857

The Nebo post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 136 in 18802020 census: 282169 years
Founding year: the first Nebo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Nebo’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 Nebo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 549 in 1920; 282 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Nebo’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Nebo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Nebo’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

Nebo, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 549

Peaked at 549 in 1920; 282 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Nebo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Nebo.

Read it all →

The first settlement in this area was by Silas Wilson, in 1832. This settlement was made on a piece of land north of the present day town. The first child was born soon after in 1835. The first post office was established in December 1852. The term "Nebo" is mentioned at various times in the Bible, which may be the namesake. In the late 1860s, a railroad was completed across Illinois and the present day town was constructed around it. Articles of incorporation were signed and presented to the Illinois state legislature in the year 1894. In 1899, a fire destroyed the entire business district on Nebo. The famous Vin Fiz Flyer landed north of the town in 1911. A bank was established in 1946. William J. Thornton (1878–1951), Illinois state representative, businessman, and postmaster, lived in Nebo.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Nebo, 1857 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Nebo post office opens
  3. 1866Post officeThe Nebo post office closes
  4. 1871Post officeThe Nebo post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 549
  7. 1930On 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

Nebo on the map, 1930 to 1978

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

Nebo on the 1930 USGS mapNebo on the 1942 USGS mapNebo on the 1978 USGS map1930Nebo 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 Nebo.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Nebo had its own post office from 1857 to 1866.

Nebo
1857–1866
Nebo
1871–today
18501940today

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

Questions about Nebo’s history

What year was Nebo founded?

The Nebo post office opened in 1857, 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 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.