Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1926 on and old-book passages.
The Sheldon post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sheldon’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sheldon yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Sheldon is a village in Sheldon Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. The population was 965 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1860. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,070 to 965 (-10%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Sheldon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
has since divided all but 185 among his children. Two years before he came here he shipped five cars of lumber to his sons, at Sheldon, and they improved the farm. The shipment was the first of the kind to Sheldon, and later he sold Sherman & Smith the first wheat sold at Sheldon. In addition to his land in this county he owns 640 acres in Missouri, all earned by his own labor.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
days' time in which to decide. He concluded to go, and at once sold his business, receiving $3,000, and at the end of the three days was at his post in Gilman, and there remained until March 1, 1860, when he took charge of Sheldon Station, and subsequently became the leading spirit of the village. Short after his arrival he built the first house of the place, and later built the first store, in which he conducted the grocery business, and receiving the appointment of postmaster he used his store as the office. He also added the lumber business in
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sheldon’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Sheldon itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Sheldon post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (3), 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.
1926
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