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History · Willow Hill

Willow Hill’s post office opened in 1851, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: the census since 1900.

1851first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Willow Hill began

When was Willow Hill founded?

1851

The Willow Hill post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 499 in 19002020 census: 172175 years
Founding year: the first Willow Hill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Willow Hill’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 Willow Hill are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Willow Hill’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Willow Hill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Willow Hill’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Willow Hill, in brief

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

Willow Hill is a village in Jasper County, Illinois. The population was 172 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1851. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 230 to 172 (-25%).

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

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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People over time

Willow Hill, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 499

Between 172 and 499 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Willow Hill’s history

What year was Willow Hill founded?

The Willow Hill post office opened in 1851, 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 →
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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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.