Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Payson

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Payson

Payson’s post office opened in 1837, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1925 on, and the census since 1900.

1837first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Payson’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Payson began

When was Payson founded?

1837

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

First census: 465 in 19002020 census: 1,025189 years
Founding year: the first Payson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Payson’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Payson.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Payson’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCongregational Church Parsonage: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Payson, 1837 to 1925

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Payson post office opens
  3. 1838Born hereAnna Kay Scott is born here
  4. 1858Born hereMary Leach is born here
  5. 1888Born hereRalph Works is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1925On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Payson came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Payson.

Read it all →

During the 1860 presidential campaign, the residents of Payson erected a pole on which they hung banners supporting the Democratic candidate, Stephen Douglas, and an effigy of Abraham Lincoln riding a rail. This resulted in two confrontations with the Quincy Wide Awakes, the Republican paramilitary organization, on August 25–26, 1860. During the second confrontation, shots were fired at the Wide Awakes, resulting in injuries. This action was related to the "Stone's Prairie Riot" at nearby Plainville.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Payson, 1879–1919

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

Payson. — The town of Payson to constitute one precinct, and the place of voting to be at the house of Benjamin Hoar, in the village of Payson. Fall Creek. — The town of Fall Creek to constitute one precinct, and the place of voting to be at the center school house.
The history of Adams County Illinois1879 · page 323Read the page →
Read the text

Payson. — The town of Payson to constitute one precinct, and the place of voting to be at the house of Benjamin Hoar, in the village of Payson. Fall Creek. — The town of Fall Creek to constitute one precinct, and the place of voting to be at the center school house.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Henry Long and bride reached Payson Township in the spring of 1849. Here they began farming, having 160 acres four miles from Payson Village on Pigeon Creek, but sixty-two years ago he moved into the Village of Payson, where he had a residence and about ten acres of ground. Mr. Long was a prominent…
Quincy and Adams County history1919Read the page →
Read the text

Henry Long and bride reached Payson Township in the spring of 1849. Here they began farming, having 160 acres four miles from Payson Village on Pigeon Creek, but sixty-two years ago he moved into the Village of Payson, where he had a residence and about ten acres of ground. Mr. Long was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, serving as a member of its official board for many years.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Baptist Church. — The organization of this church in Payson took place on the 8th of March, 1834, before the town of Payson was ever platted. The meeting for the purpose of organizing was held at the residence of W. H.
The history of Adams County Illinois1879 · page 555Read the page →
Read the text

Baptist Church. — The organization of this church in Payson took place on the 8th of March, 1834, before the town of Payson was ever platted. The meeting for the purpose of organizing was held at the residence of W. H.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Frederick Frank Gilhouse is not only a mau of importance in the fanning and civic affairs of Payson Township, but also represents a family long notable in the industrial affairs of that locality. The Gilhouse home is sixteen miles southeast of Quincy and three miles south of the Village of Payson.
Quincy and Adams County history1919 · page 1300Read the page →
Read the text

Frederick Frank Gilhouse is not only a mau of importance in the fanning and civic affairs of Payson Township, but also represents a family long notable in the industrial affairs of that locality. The Gilhouse home is sixteen miles southeast of Quincy and three miles south of the Village of Payson.

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.

By decade

Payson, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
Congregational Church ParsonageDate?Congregational Church ParsonageCongregational Church, Park Drive & State Route 96Date?Congregational Church, Park Drive & State Route 96
Today2 recent
Payson, Illinois2023Payson, IllinoisBluff Hall Evangelical Free Church2023Bluff Hall Evangelical Free Church
On the map

Payson on the map, 1925 to 1981

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

Payson on the 1925 USGS mapPayson on the 1981 USGS map1925Liberty 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 Payson.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Congregational Church Parsonage
Retake this viewCongregational Church Parsonage

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Payson’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Payson, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,114

Between 414 and 1,114 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Payson

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Ralph WorksAmerican baseball player · b. 1888
Anna Kay ScottAmerican medical missionary and writer · b. 1838
M
Mary LeachAmerican chemist · b. 1858

Questions about Payson’s history

What year was Payson founded?

The Payson 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, 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), 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.