The Tilton post office opened in 1864, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Vandercook (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 297 in 18802020 census: 2,660162 years
How historic is Tilton?
C+
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Tilton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Tilton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tilton is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #491 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tilton’s overall grade.
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 Tilton’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 B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points). 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 Tilton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tilton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1899Danville 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 Tilton.
The story so far
Tilton, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Tilton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Tilton is a village in Danville Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,976 at the 2000 census, down to 2,724 in 2010 and down to 2,660 in 2020. It is named after Lucian Tilton, a friend of Abraham Lincoln, who worked for the railroads. Lincoln reputedly had Thanksgiving dinner at Tilton's house in the village in the 1850s.
Its first post office opened in 1864. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,724 to 2,660 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Tilton in 1879
Passages that mention Tilton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources1879 · page 358Read the page →
Read the text
The first meetings of Til ton M. E. Church were held in the schoolhouse at Tilton. Among the first members were 0. B. Scharer and wife, M. C. Smith and wife, Noah Morgan and wife and M. Founder. The present church was built in 1872, at a cost of over $1,100. The members of this church numbered at one time some fifty; but on account of many removals and some deaths the membership is at present only about fifteen. The church was dedicated by Dr. R. N.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources1879Read the page →
Read the text
Tilton G. W., dealer in drygoods and groceries. Tilton Samuel R., dealer in drugs, groceries and millinery goods.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Tilton, 1864 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Tilton post office opened in 1864, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Tilton rank for history?
Tilton is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #491 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 Tilton?
17% of Tilton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
