Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Sparta

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
A−History
History · Sparta

Sparta’s post office opened in 1840, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #139 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 14 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1870.

1840first post office
1on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
7famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sparta’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sparta began

When was Sparta founded?

1840

The Sparta post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Plumb Creek (1821), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,335 in 18702020 census: 4,095186 years

How historic is Sparta?

A−

More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Sparta post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Sparta’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sparta is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #139 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 Sparta’s overall grade.
Founding era1840, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194013.9% of homes (±5.7) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 14 historic buildings, 34.4 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 84%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 82%

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 Sparta’s 34.4 sits above most of its state (90% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 14 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% 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 (±5.7 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 Sparta’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1889 to 1910, drew every building in Sparta.On the map since 19143 editions of the USGS map, 1914 to 1982. Watch Sparta change.Deep rootsA post office since 1840: 186 years of Sparta.Mystery photos5 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.
★ What stands out · Every building

Sparta, building by building, 1889–1910

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.

Sparta fire insurance map, 1889, sheet 11889Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the map

Sparta on the map, 1914 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sparta. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Sparta on the 1914 USGS mapSparta on the 1965 USGS mapSparta on the 1982 USGS map1914Coulterville 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 Sparta.

Timeline

Sparta, 1821 to 1936

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1821Post officeThe Plumb Creek post office opens
  3. 1832Post officeThe Plumb Creek post office closes
  4. 1840Post officeThe Sparta post office opens
  5. 1856Born hereJohn T. Ewing is born here
  6. 1884Born hereEarle Gardner is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1914On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1936Born hereNada Rowand is born here
  10. 1936Born hereJohn Wittenborn is born here
The story so far

Sparta, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sparta yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Sparta is a city in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,095 at the 2020 census. It has a total area of 11.443 square miles (29.64 km2), of which 11.17 square miles (28.93 km2) (or 97.61%) is land and 0.273 square miles (0.71 km2) (or 2.39%) is water. The city was the principal filming location for the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night.

Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 4,302 to 4,095 (-5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Sparta, decade by decade

Date unknown5 to date
Historic American Buildings Survey Lester Jones, Photographer August 15, 1940. NORTH ELEVATION - Amos Glen House, Spart…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Lester Jones, Phot…Historic American Buildings Survey Lester Jones, Photographer August 15, 1940. VIEW FROM SOUTHEAST - Amos Glen House, S…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Lester Jones, Phot…Historic American Buildings Survey Lester Jones, Photographer August 7, 1940. VIEW FROM SOUTHEAST - Fulton House, Spart…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Lester Jones, Phot…Fulton HouseDate?Fulton HouseAmos Glen HouseDate?Amos Glen House
Today4 recent
Sparta Reformed Presbyterian Church2012Sparta Reformed Presbyterian ChurchRosborough House in2012Rosborough House inLandmark Apostolic Church2012Landmark Apostolic ChurchFirst National Bank in2012First National Bank in
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Historic American Buildings Survey Lester Jones, Photographer August 15, 1940. NORTH ELEVATION - Amos Glen House, Spart…
Retake this viewHistoric American Buildings Survey Lester Jones, Photographer August 15, 1940. NORTH ELEVATION - Amos Glen House, Spart…

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sparta’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 14 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
14
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Sparta Historic District
Sparta Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Gothic1
Steamboat Gothic1
Victorian1
Sparta Historic DistrictGothic

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Sparta, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 4,957

Between 1,335 and 4,957 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sparta’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

7 famous people were born in Sparta

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Earle GardnerAmerican baseball player · b. 1884
John T. EwingAmerican educator, college football coach · b. 1856
N
Nada RowandActress · b. 1936
J
John WittenbornAmerican football player · b. 1936
D
Darius JacksonAmerican football player · b. 1993
G
George MitchellAmerican Negro league pitcher in the 1920s · b. 1900
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Sparta’s post office has been open since 1840. Another post office, Plumb Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Plumb Creek
1821–1832
Sparta
1840–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Park Estates Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Plum Creek Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Sparta’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sparta’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo5 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHistoric American Buildings Survey Lest…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Sparta’s history

What year was Sparta founded?

The Sparta post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Sparta rank for history?

Sparta is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #139 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 Sparta?

One place: the Sparta Historic District (listed 1982).

How old are the homes in Sparta?

14% of Sparta’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1970.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.