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History · Stanford

Stanford’s post office opened in 1868, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940

1868first post office
0on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Stanford began

When was Stanford founded?

1868

The Stanford post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Allin Station (1868), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 600158 years
Founding year: the first Stanford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Stanford’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 Stanford are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Stanford’s homes were built before 1944.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stanford’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Stanford came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Stanford.

Read it all →

Stanford was platted, under the name of "Allin", on December 14, 1867. Its founder was John Armstrong (1820–1912). It was founded when the Jacksonville Division of the Chicago Alton and St. Louis Railroad was extended westward from Bloomington. The McLean County town of Covell was founded, within a few months of Allin, as a station on the same railroad. In 1870 the name of Allin was changed to "Stanford". It was incorporated as a village in June 1874. The town's founder, John Armstrong, was born in Posey County, Indiana. He was first a farmer and then ran a grocery in Stanford, where he continued to live until his death in 1912. For many years after the town was founded, John Armstrong ran a grocery in Stanford.

ChaptersThe beginnings of StanfordOriginal town design and development

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Stanford, 1868 to 1868

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Allin Station post office opens
  3. 1868Post officeThe Allin Station post office closes
  4. 1868Post officeThe Stanford post office opens
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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Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Stanford’s post office has been open since 1868. Another post office, Allin Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Allin Station
1868–1868
Stanford
1868–today
18601940today

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

Questions about Stanford’s history

What year was Stanford founded?

The Stanford post office opened in 1868, 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 →
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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 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.