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History · Topeka

Topeka’s post office opened in 1861, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1880.

1861first post office
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Topeka began

When was Topeka founded?

1861

The Topeka post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1869.

First census: 98 in 18802020 census: 60165 years
Founding year: the first Topeka post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1869.

What stands out about Topeka’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 Topeka are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 160 in 1900; 60 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Topeka’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Topeka’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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People over time

Topeka, census by census

010018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 160

Peaked at 160 in 1900; 60 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Topeka, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Topeka yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Topeka is an incorporated village in Mason County, Illinois, United States. The population was 60 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1861. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 76 to 60 (-21%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Topeka, 1861 to 1929

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861Post officeThe Topeka post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 160
  5. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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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On the map

Topeka on the map, 1929 to 1982

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

Topeka on the 1929 USGS mapTopeka on the 1932 USGS mapTopeka on the 1982 USGS map1929Manito 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 Topeka.

Questions about Topeka’s history

What year was Topeka founded?

The Topeka post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1869.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.