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C−History
History · Swansea

Swansea’s post office opened in 1894

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #611 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Swansea was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: maps from 1937 on and the census since 1900.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Swansea began

When was Swansea founded?

1894

The Swansea post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Clinton Hill (1809), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 735 in 19002020 census: 14,386132 years

How historic is Swansea?

C−

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Swansea’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Swansea is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #611 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Swansea’s overall grade.
Founding era1894, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.1% of homes (±2.4) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 20%

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 Swansea’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. 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 Swansea’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 Swansea are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Swansea’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Swansea’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
The story

How Swansea came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Swansea.

Read it all →

In the late 19th century the area that is now Swansea was a mix of farming and commerce. It was home to underground coal mines, foundries, brickyards, and the Gundlach Drill Works, manufacturers of the most efficient grain drills of that era. The early residents were fiercely independent and bent on conducting their own affairs. When the municipality that sat on their doorstep reached out to annex their lands and businesses they decided to start their own community.

On November 27, 1886, a group of 35 area residents petitioned the county government "that they are desirous of having said territory organized as a village...That the name of the proposed village shall be New Swansea."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Swansea, 1809 to 1937

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1809Post officeThe Clinton Hill post office opens
  3. 1816Post officeThe Clinton Hill post office closes
  4. 1894Post officeThe Swansea post office opens
  5. 1899Post officeThe Swansea post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1937On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Swansea, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Swansea, IL, USA2013Swansea, IL, USASwansea, IL, USA - panoramio (6)2013Swansea, IL, USA - panoramio (6)Swansea, IL, USA - panoramio (5)2013Swansea, IL, USA - panoramio (5)Swansea, IL, USA - panoramio (4)2013Swansea, IL, USA - panoramio (4)Swansea, IL, USA - panoramio (3)2013Swansea, IL, USA - panoramio (3)Swansea, IL, USA - panoramio (2)2013Swansea, IL, USA - panoramio (2)Swansea, IL, USA - panoramio (1)2013Swansea, IL, USA - panoramio (1)
On the map

Swansea on the map, 1937 to 1991

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

Swansea on the 1937 USGS mapSwansea on the 1954 USGS mapSwansea on the 1968 USGS mapSwansea on the 1974 USGS mapSwansea on the 1982 USGS mapSwansea on the 1991 USGS map1937OFallon 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 Swansea.

People over time

Swansea, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,000190019201940196019802000202014,386

Grew from 735 people in 1900 to 14,386 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Swansea

Nobody well known was born in Swansea itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
William HoldenAmerican actor · b. 1918
Jimmy ConnorsAmerican tennis player · b. 1952
Jackie Joyner-KerseeAmerican track and field athlete · b. 1962
D
Dick DurbinUnited States Senator from Illinois · b. 1944
Sandra MagnusAmerican astronaut · b. 1964
Buddy EbsenAmerican actor and dancer · b. 1908
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Swansea had its own post office from 1894 to 1899. Another post office, Clinton Hill, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Clinton Hill
1809–1816
Swansea
1894–1899
18001910today
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Swansea
BadgleyMessingerOld Saint Clair County

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

St. Clair TownshipIts storyC−Belleville6 historic placesA+Fairview HeightsIts storyC−ShilohIts storyC−O'Fallon1 historic placeC+Caseyville TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Swansea’s history

What year was Swansea founded?

The Swansea post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Swansea rank for history?

Swansea is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #611 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.

How old are the homes in Swansea?

5% of Swansea’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1993.

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), Wikipedia, 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.