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History · Tallula

Tallula’s post office opened in 1858, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 1870.

1858first post office
0on the National Register
52%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Tallula began

When was Tallula founded?

1858

The Tallula post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 339 in 18702020 census: 434168 years
Founding year: the first Tallula post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Tallula’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 Tallula are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Tallula’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 761 in 1920; 434 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19093 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1971. Watch Tallula change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tallula’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Tallula.

Read it all →

William G. Greene, J. G. Greene, Richard Yates, T. Baker, and W. G. Spears laid out Tallula in late 1857. The name of "Tallula" was said to be an Indian word. The History of Menard & Mason Counties, Illinois credits Spears with the name, and notes that it was said to mean "dropping water", but nothing in the area is especially related to dropping water; the county tourist bureau claims that William G. Greene named the town, that it means "trickling water", and that it is related to "abundant springs in the area".

Tallula was incorporated as a village under Illinois' general municipal law in 1871 or 1872. William Greene and physician J. F. Wilson established the local bank in May 1877.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Tallula, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 761

Peaked at 761 in 1920; 434 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Timeline

Tallula, 1858 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Tallula post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 761
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.

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On the map

Tallula on the map, 1909 to 1971

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

Tallula on the 1909 USGS mapTallula on the 1940 USGS mapTallula on the 1971 USGS map1909Tallula 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 Tallula.

Questions about Tallula’s history

What year was Tallula founded?

The Tallula post office opened in 1858, 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, 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.