1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 60 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: the first Petersburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Petersburg’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Petersburg is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Petersburg’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Petersburg’s 256 sits above most of its state (97% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 60 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Petersburg’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Petersburg, building by building, 1886–1922
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The town began as a planned community organized by real estate speculators Peter Lukins (for whom the town is named) and George Warburton. Abraham Lincoln worked as the surveyor who first mapped, measured and help to divide lots on the land. Petersburg quickly grew, due to an advantageous placement on the river, becoming the county seat in the 1830s and eventually drawing off the population of New Salem, which was abandoned in 1840.
Many of the Victorian-era homes built by early wealthy inhabitants still stand on the bluffs of Petersburg. The town itself takes pride in these structures, which has even preserved some of the original cobblestone streets to complement the classical architecture.
Passages that mention Petersburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Lincoln centennial at Old Salem Chautauqua, Petersburg, Illinois1909 · page 36Read the page →
Read the text
Mail addressed to Petersburg, 111., in care of OLD SALEM CHAU- TAUQUA, wilfbe brought to the grounds twice a day, and may be received from the assembly postoffice, which is a branch of the Petersburg postoffice, and is operated under the direction of the postmaster in charge of that office.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Lincoln centennial at Old Salem Chautauqua, Petersburg, Illinois1909 · page 34Read the page →
Read the text
A number of special low rate excursions will be run to the assembly. Watch the railroad advertisements for notices of same. About ten days or two weeks before you are ready to start, ask your railroad agent if he has instructions to sell excursion tickets to Petersburg on account of OLD SALEM CHAUTAUQUA. SECTION 9.— SUBURBAN TRAIN SERVICE.
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.
Timeline
Petersburg, 1836 to 1933
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Petersburg post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Petersburg rank for history?
Petersburg is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Petersburg?
One place: the Petersburg Historic District (listed 1976).
How old are the homes in Petersburg?
33% of Petersburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1964.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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