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History · Hillisburg

Hillisburg’s post office opened in 1876, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1961 on.

1876first post office
0on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Hillisburg began

When was Hillisburg founded?

1876

The Hillisburg post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name.

150 years
Founding year: the first Hillisburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hillisburg’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hillisburg’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Hillisburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hillisburg.

Read it all →

Hillisburg was laid out in 1874 by John Etherton Hillis (1840–1904), a local businessman and financier, and by 1886 had two general stores, two drug stores, a blacksmith shop, a saw mill, a grist mill and a grain elevator. In the early 1900s it was also home to the Hillisburg Bank, two churches (Christian and Methodist Episcopal) and Masonic Lodge #550.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hillisburg, 1889 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Born hereZerna Sharp is born here
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903In the archive20th century atlas of Clinton County, Indiana - containing maps of villages, cities and t…
  5. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hillisburg, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
20th century atlas of Clinton County, Indiana - containing maps of villages, cities and townships of the county, of the…190320th century atlas of Clinton County, Indiana - conta…Map
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Hillisburg on the map, 1961 to 1984

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

Hillisburg on the 1961 USGS mapHillisburg on the 1984 USGS map1961Hillisburg sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hillisburg.

Questions about Hillisburg’s history

What year was Hillisburg founded?

The Hillisburg post office opened in 1876, 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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.