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History · Stonefort

Stonefort’s post office opened in 1853, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

1853first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Stonefort began

When was Stonefort founded?

1853

The Stonefort post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bolton (1849), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 224173 years
Founding year: the first Stonefort post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Stonefort’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 Stonefort are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stonefort’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Stonefort’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 Stonefort came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Stonefort.

Read it all →

Stonefort is named for an ancient rock fortification that stood in the vicinity when the first settlers started arriving in the area in the early 1800s. The village of Stonefort was established in the late 1850s, and was originally located about a mile to the southeast, near the edge of the bluff. When the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad (later part of the Big Four and New York Central systems) was completed through the area in the 1870s, Stonefort's public buildings were dismantled and moved to the village's present location, which was adjacent to the railroad tracks. The former site of the village is now listed as "Oldtown" on maps.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Stonefort, 1849 to 1873

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Bolton post office opens
  3. 1853Post officeThe Stonefort post office opens
  4. 1864Post officeThe Bolton post office closes
  5. 1873Born hereTom Murray is born here
By decade

Stonefort, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Stonefort-post-office-il2018Stonefort-post-office-ilStonefort-Village-Hall-il2018Stonefort-Village-Hall-ilStonefort-Tunnel-Hill-State-Trail-il2018Stonefort-Tunnel-Hill-State-Trail-ilStonefort-Philadelphia-Church-il2018Stonefort-Philadelphia-Church-ilStonefort-Depot-il2018Stonefort-Depot-ilStonefort-Bank-block-il2018Stonefort-Bank-block-il
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Stonefort’s post office has been open since 1853. Another post office, Bolton, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bolton
1849–1864
Stonefort
1853–today
18401930today

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

Questions about Stonefort’s history

What year was Stonefort founded?

The Stonefort post office opened in 1853, 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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.