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History · Versailles Township

Versailles Township’s post office opened in 1837, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1928 on, and the census since 1880.

1837first post office
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Versailles Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Versailles Township began

When was Versailles Township founded?

1837

The Versailles Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Vandeventer (1828) and Spring Station (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 517 in 18802020 census: 656189 years
Founding year: the first Versailles Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Versailles Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 627 in 1920; 446 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Versailles Township.Old burying grounds14 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Versailles Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Versailles Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Versailles Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewTrain Tracks, Versailles, Illinois (app…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Versailles Township, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 627

Peaked at 627 in 1920; 446 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Vandeventer
1828–1835
Spring Station
1870–1883
18201920today
Gone or out of use
Adams SchoolschoolCrossroads SchoolschoolHall SchoolschoolHambaugh SchoolschoolLa Grange LocksdamMcDaniel SchoolschoolMount Zion ChurchchurchRobison SchoolschoolSand Ridge SchoolschoolSneider Landing StripairportVandeventer Schoolschool
14cemeteries and burying grounds inside Versailles Township
ArnoldBenjamin RobinsonCasteenDawsonHallHambaughLavina HenryMartinMount ZionRootSurattVandeventerWest SideWoods

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

The story so far

Versailles Township, in brief

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

Versailles is a village in Versailles Township, Brown County, Illinois, United States. The population was 336 at the 2020 census. The village's name is pronounced differently from the French city of the same name: vər-SAYLZ.

Its first post office opened in 1837. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 750 to 656 (-13%).

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

Timeline

Versailles Township, 1828 to 1928

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Post officeThe Vandeventer post office opens
  3. 1835Post officeThe Vandeventer post office closes
  4. 1870Post officeThe Spring Station post office opens
  5. 1879In the archiveTrain Tracks, Versailles, Illinois (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 86565334b85875b0ff2c01ec…
  6. 1883Post officeThe Spring Station post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 627
  9. 1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Versailles Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s1 item
Train Tracks, Versailles, Illinois (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 86565334b85875b0ff2c01ec912e661c1879Train Tracks, Versailles, Illinois (approximately 187…
Date unknown1 to date
Illinois Waterway, La Grange Lock and Dam, 3/4 mile south of Country 795N at Illinois RiverDate?Illinois Waterway, La Grange Lock and Dam, 3/4 mile s…
On the map

Versailles Township on the map, 1928 to 1980

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

Versailles Township on the 1928 USGS mapVersailles Township on the 1931 USGS mapVersailles Township on the 1980 USGS map1928Meredosia 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 Versailles Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Train Tracks, Versailles, Illinois (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 86565334b85875b0ff2c01ec912e661c
Retake this viewTrain Tracks, Versailles, Illinois (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 86565334b85875b0ff2c01ec912e661c, 1879

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Versailles Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Versailles Township

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

See all →
John Bell HatcherAmerican paleontologist · b. 1861
F
Frank SkinnerAmerican film composer and arranger · b. 1897
William B. PineAmerican politician · b. 1877
L
Lew HitchAmerican basketball player · b. 1929
William H. DieterichAmerican politician · b. 1876
R
R. Thomas FlynnRetired president of Monroe Community College · b. 1938
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hagener TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCooperstown Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townElkhorn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChambersburg TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Versailles Township’s history

What year was Versailles Township founded?

The Versailles Township post office opened in 1837, 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 →
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (1), 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.