Founding year: the first Princeville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Princeville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Princeville is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Princeville’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 Princeville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 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 Princeville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1886Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Princeville, 1840 to 1982
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Princeville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Princeville is a village in Peoria County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,728 at the 2020 census, down from 1,738 in 2010. It is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,738 to 1,636 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Princeville in 1880
Passages that mention Princeville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest--history of Illinois--history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc. ..1880 · page 611Read the page →
Read the text
THE VILLAGE OF PRINCEVILLE Is situated in the northern portion of the count}', on section 13 of Princeville township, on the Peoria and Rock Island railroad, twenty-two miles from Peoria, and is a nourishing town of about 900 inhabitants. It was laid out and named by Wm. C.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest--history of Illinois--history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc. ..1880 · page 572Read the page →
Read the text
is one of the northern tier of townships bordering on Marshall county, was originally all prairie; is one of the prettiest and most fertile tracts of land, and cont lins some of the finest farm improvements in Peoria county. There is no incorporated town in tlie township. The village of Princeville lies on its western border and the hamlet and post oflSce of West Hallock on the eastern line, and Akron post ofBce is near the center of the township. The soil is admirnbly adapted to grain-growing and grazing, especiall}' to the production of Indian corn. Its inhabitants are intelligent and prosperous.
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
Princeville, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Between 263 and 1,738 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Princeville’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Princeville’s history
What year was Princeville founded?
The Princeville post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Princeville rank for history?
Princeville is more historic than 64% 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.
How old are the homes in Princeville?
23% of Princeville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (3), 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.
1973
1973
