The story
Read it all →How Roberts came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Roberts.
Roberts was named for the first permanent settlers in the area, Jesse and Livingston Roberts.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Roberts
Roberts’ post office opened in 1872, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: old-book passages.
1872first post office
0on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Roberts began
When was Roberts founded?
1872
The Roberts post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 345154 years
Founding year: the first Roberts post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Roberts’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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Start Roberts’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Roberts’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Roberts in 1908
Passages that mention Roberts, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Ford County, Illinois1908 · page 174Read the page →
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First Congregational church of Rolx'rts. A Congregational church organization existed in this township as early as 18(J7. In 1875 two separate bodies grew out of the old oiu\ one locating at Thawvillc. Ircuiuois county, aiul the other at Roberts. Services wi-re held in the schoolhouse and town hall until 1879, when stei)s were taken to erect a house of worship, which was completed and dedicated tluring tlie summer of 1880.
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History of Ford County, Illinois1908 · page 173Read the page →
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private houses and schoolhouses at an early day. The first preacher sent here by conference was a Mr. Henry in 1871. He preached in the Graham schoolhouse. A Sunday school was organized, with Mr. Van Steenbergh superintendent. Meetings were held in the schoolhouse in Roberts the following year. When the hall was built in 1875 services were held there until the
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
Roberts, decade by decade
2007
2007Questions about Roberts’ history
What year was Roberts founded?
The Roberts post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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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), 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.