Founding year: the first Williamsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Williamsville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Williamsville is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Williamsville’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 Williamsville’s 15.2 sits above most of its state (85% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings 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 is a Census survey estimate (±11.4 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 Williamsville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Williamsville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Williamsville is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Williamsville had a population of 1,425. It is part of the Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village is named after Springfield merchant and banker John Williams.
Its first post office opened in 1854. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,476 to 1,425 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Williamsville in 1912
Passages that mention Williamsville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Sangamon County1912 · page 1187Read the page →
Read the text
ville, where for fifteen years he conducted a general merchandise establishment. He was for several years manager of the Council Elevator in Williamsville and for the past ten years has lived retired from active life. He has been fairly successful and has accumulated some other property besides his nice home in Williamsville. He is prominent in local affairs and one
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Sangamon County1912 · page 1529Read the page →
Read the text
reared, Mr. Powell spent a number of years as an energetic and industrious farmer, so that he ‘was able to retire from active life in 1902, coming then to the village of Williamsville, where he has become one of the substantial and respected citizens of this pleasant little community.
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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Questions about Williamsville’s history
What year was Williamsville founded?
The Williamsville post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Williamsville rank for history?
Williamsville is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. 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 Williamsville?
One place: the Price-Prather House (listed 1991).
How old are the homes in Williamsville?
24% of Williamsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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