The story
Read it all →How Troy came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Troy.
Troy was platted in 1819. It was incorporated as a town on February 18, 1857, and as a city in 1892.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
BHistory
History · Troy
Troy dates to 1819, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns · #311 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Troy was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Its Register listings are the John Carney House and the William W. Jarvis House. Its Register listings are the John Carney House and the William W. Jarvis House. Below: maps from 1907 on and the census since 1880.
1819founded
2on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Troy began
When was Troy founded?
1819
Troy dates its founding to 1819 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
First census: 648 in 18802020 census: 10,960207 years
How historic is Troy?
B
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1822.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Troy’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Troy is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #311 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Troy’s overall grade.
Founding era1819, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19405.4% of homes (±2.4) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register2 listings, 1.7 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 62%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 60%
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 Troy’s 1.7 sits above most of its state (66% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1819.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Troy’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Troy’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Troy’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Troy on the map, 1907 to 1991
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Troy. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1907Belleville sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Troy.
Timeline
Troy, 1819 to 1907
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1819FoundingTroy is established
- 1822Post officeThe Troy post office opens
- 1884Post officeThe Formosa post office opens
- 20th century
- 1905Post officeThe Formosa post office closes
- 1907
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
From the old history books
What they wrote about Troy, 1882–1912
Passages that mention Troy, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 19121912 · page 560Read the page →
Read the text
Troy, as mentioned in a foregoing para¬ graph, was platted in 1819. About the year 1836, Josiah Caswell laid out the town of Mechanicsburg, which was what is now the western portion. The plat of the town of Troy was not placed on record until March 5, 1839, and the town was incorporated by a special act of the legislature in 1857. The first presi¬
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Madison County, Illinois ... With biographical sketches ..1882 · page 85Read the page →
Read the text
Joseph Eberman was one of the first settlers on the site of Troy, and the first Justice of the Peace in that part of the County. Calvin and Horatio JlcCray, natives of Connecticut, settled near Troy iu 1816 or 1817, and brought the first infusion of "yankee" blood to a settlement the previous members of which had been almost entirely of southern origin. James and Harry Riggin came to this part of the country in 1818, and the next ytar James Riggin and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 19121912 · page 557Read the page →
Read the text
The central portion of the present city of Troy was known only as Columbia prior to 1819. In that year James Riggin and David Hendershott bought the town site, which com¬ prised about ten acres, from John Jarvis, pay¬ ing $10 per acre for the same. Riggin and Hendershott surveyed the tract into lots and laid out the town of Troy, the name being
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Madison County, Illinois ... With biographical sketches ..1882 · page 77Read the page →
Read the text
East of Seybold, in the immediate vicinity of the present town of Troy, settlements were also made in 1803, by the Greggs. In April of tliat year, Jacob Gregg settled a half mile south of Troy. The next year, 1804, he planted a pear tree, which bore large crops of fruit for more than half a century afterward. Philip, Titus, John, and Hermon Gregg, sons of Jacob, made settlements in the neighborhood. John Gregg on the prairie, not far from Robert Seybold. The
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.
By decade
Troy, decade by decade
2022
2013On the National Register
2 historic places in Troy
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
John Carney House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Italianate1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Troy, census by census
Grew from 648 people in 1880 to 10,960 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Troy’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and burying grounds
Troy’s post office has been open since 1822. Another post office, Formosa, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Troy
Formosa
18201920today
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Troy
FriedensRiggin FamilyTroy City
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.
Questions about Troy’s history
What year was Troy founded?
In 1819, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Troy’s post office opened in 1822, and the census of 1880 counted 648 people here.
How does Troy rank for history?
Troy is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #311 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.
What is on the National Register in Troy?
Two places: the John Carney House (listed 1983) and the William W. Jarvis House (1988).
How old are the homes in Troy?
5% of Troy’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.
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 (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.