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History · Penfield

Penfield’s post office opened in 1876, and 70% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1936 on.

1876first post office
0on the National Register
70%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Penfield’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Penfield began

When was Penfield founded?

1876

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

2020 census: 151150 years
Founding year: the first Penfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Penfield’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Penfield’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Penfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Penfield’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 photo3 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewPenfield Elevators, Front Street: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Penfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Penfield.

Read it all →

Penfield was laid out in 1876 and is named after John Penfield of Rantoul, Illinois. It had a station on the now-defunct Illinois Central Railroad along with nearby Gifford.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Penfield, decade by decade

Date unknown3 to date
Penfield Elevators, Front StreetDate?Penfield Elevators, Front StreetPenfield Elevators, West Elevator, Front StreetDate?Penfield Elevators, West Elevator, Front StreetPenfield Elevators, East Elevator, Front StreetDate?Penfield Elevators, East Elevator, Front Street
On the map

Penfield on the map, 1936 to 1984

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

Penfield on the 1936 USGS mapPenfield on the 1957 USGS mapPenfield on the 1984 USGS map1936Potomac 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 Penfield.

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.

Penfield Elevators, Front Street
Retake this viewPenfield Elevators, Front Street

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Penfield’s history

What year was Penfield founded?

The Penfield 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 →
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 the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.