Pittsfield’s post office opened in 1829, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns · #57 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 341 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: the first Pittsfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pittsfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pittsfield is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #57 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pittsfield’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 Pittsfield’s 778 sits above most of its state (99% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 344 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% 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 (±7.0 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 Pittsfield’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
Pittsfield, building by building, 1885–1913
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.
Pittsfield was initially settled by settlers from New England. These settlers were of old Yankee stock, descended from the English Puritans who had founded and settled New England in the 1600s. A group of settlers from Pittsfield, Massachusetts headed west and settled this region of Illinois in 1820. When they arrived the area was a virgin wilderness, they constructed farms, roads and government buildings.
Passages that mention Pittsfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Pike County. A centennial address delivered by Hon. William A. Grimshaw, at Pittsfield, Pike County, Illinois, July 4, 18761877 · page 20Read the page →
Read the text
He came to Pittsfield in 1834. He has filled many lucrative public offices, having been School Commissioner and County, or Probate Judge, Postmaster of Pittsfield, Justice of the Peace, and in all offices and in his profession has been a m ;.n of spotless reputation. W. R. Archer is an honored and useful State Senator and has twice been a member of Constitutional Conventions of Illinois.
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
Pittsfield, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
The Pittsfield post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Pittsfield rank for history?
Pittsfield is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #57 of 768 in Illinois. 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 Pittsfield?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Pittsfield East School (listed 1971, the first), and 1 historic district, the Pittsfield Historic District, with 341 contributing buildings. 344 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Pittsfield?
17% of Pittsfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 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 (12), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
1858
c. 1870
c. 1870
c. 1870
1872
1872
Date?
2014
2014
2012
2010
