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History · Oakford

Oakford’s post office opened in 1872, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1933 on and the census since 1900.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Gin37 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Oakford began

When was Oakford founded?

1872

The Oakford post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 338 in 19002020 census: 234154 years
Founding year: the first Oakford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Oakford’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 Oakford are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Oakford’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oakford’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oakford’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
The story so far

Oakford, in brief

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

Oakford is a village in Menard County, Illinois, United States. The population was 234 at the 2020 census, down from 286 in 2010. It is part of the Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 286 to 234 (-18%).

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

Timeline

Oakford, 1872 to 1933

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Oakford post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904Born hereSam Dailey is born here
  5. 1933On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Oakford, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Oakford Illinois Village Hall2022Oakford Illinois Village Hall
On the map

Oakford on the map, 1933 to 1971

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

Oakford on the 1933 USGS mapOakford on the 1971 USGS map1933Petersburg 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 Oakford.

People over time

Oakford, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 351

Between 234 and 351 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Oakford’s history

What year was Oakford founded?

The Oakford post office opened in 1872, 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 (1), 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) 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.