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History · St. David

St. David’s post office opened in 1865, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1947 on and the census since 1900.

1865first post office
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How St. David began

When was St. David founded?

1865

The St. David post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 481 in 19002020 census: 522161 years
Founding year: the first St. David post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about St. David’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of St. David are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,189 in 1920; 522 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of St. David’s homes were built before 1947.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start St. David’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

St. David, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,189

Peaked at 1,189 in 1920; 522 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story so far

St. David, in brief

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

St. David is a village in Fulton County, Illinois, United States. The population was 522 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1865. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 589 to 522 (-11%).

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

Timeline

St. David, 1865 to 1947

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1865Post officeThe Saint David post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,189
  5. 1921Born hereTony Butkovich is born here
  6. 1947On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

St. David on the map, 1947 to 1985

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

St. David on the 1947 USGS mapSt. David on the 1985 USGS map1947St David sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of St. David.

Places that used to be

Old corners

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint David

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

Questions about St. David’s history

What year was St. David founded?

The St. David post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.