Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1836.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rossville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rossville is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rossville’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 Rossville’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 (±9.8 points). Two sources give 1839.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Rossville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The location was originally named Liggett's Grove in honor of John Liggett who built a lodging house in 1829. Liggett's cabin was located on the Hubbard Trail, an early trading route established by Gurdon Hubbard from Chicago to Danville. In 1833, this became the first state highway (now Illinois Route 1) and in 1914 was made part of the Dixie Highway.
In 1838, Alvan Gilbert purchased the Liggett farm, and the following year he became postmaster at the newly established post office. Rossville was incorporated as a village in August 1859. Rossville and Ross Township were named after Jacob Ross, a settler in the area.
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.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Rossville, 1911–1930
Passages that mention Rossville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Vermilion County, Illinois1930 · page 951Read the page →
Read the text
and located at Collison, Illinois, where he operated a blacksmith shop for two years. He then entered the employ of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad and in 1921 came to Rossville, where he was employed in the company's shops until 1924. He has since been identified with the Shell Petroleum Company in Rossville, and manages one of the largest stations in this section of the State.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Vermilion County, Illinois1911 · page 412Read the page →
Read the text
ceived this name is not known. Samuel Frazier of Danville, set up the first store in "Henpeck" in 1856 and continued to sell goods for four years. Others located there but it was not until the spring of 1862 that the man who was to develop the village of Rossville, Mr. Alvan Gilbert, arrived. Together with W. J. Henderson this man made the village. Alvan (the successor of Gilbert) and Henning are villages within the limits of Ross township, built on the H. R. & E. R. R. which have had a history differing little if any from that of hundreds of villages in Illinois. Alvan is the natural outgrowth of the village of Gilbert. In 1872, a station
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Vermilion County, Illinois1930 · page 883Read the page →
Read the text
E. C. Smith was reared and educated at Rossville and later attended Culver Military Academy during 1908-09-10 and upon his return to Rossville he entered the Farmers National Bank as a clerk. He became cashier in 1916 and was elected president of that institution in 1919. However, when the Farmers National Bank was merged with the First National Bank in June, 1924, Mr. Smith left the financial field and at that time acquired an interest in 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.
Timeline
Rossville, 1836 to 1938
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rossville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1938Hoopeston 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 Rossville.
People over time
Rossville, census by census
Between 768 and 1,588 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rossville’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Rossville’s post office has been open since 1861. Another post office, North Fork, opened and closed inside today’s town.
North Fork
1836–1861
Rossville
1861–today
18301930today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Rossville’s history
What year was Rossville founded?
In 1839, according to Wikidata. Rossville’s post office opened in 1836, and the census of 1880 counted 768 people here.
How does Rossville rank for history?
Rossville is more historic than 77% 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 Rossville?
48% of Rossville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1943.
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 (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.
2019
2019
2007
2007
