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History · Leaf

Leaf dates to 1838

Below: maps from 1947 on.

1838founded
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Leaf began

When was Leaf founded?

1838

Leaf dates its founding to 1838 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1874.

2020 census: 62188 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1874.The full story ↓

What stands out about Leaf’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 Leaf are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1838: 188 years of Leaf.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leaf’s collection

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

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

Leaf, 1838 to 1947

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838
    FoundingLeaf is established
  3. 1874Post officeThe Leaf post office opens
  4. 1886Post officeThe Leaf post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1937Born hereLloyd Green is born here
  7. 1947On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Leaf came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Leaf.

Read it all →

Leaf was settled in 1838, and originally called "Salem". Most of the early settlers in the region were Irish, Scottish or English, and Salem's first families were the Thomsons, Cowarts, McKays, and McLeods.

Salem Academy was founded by W.W. Thompson, and operated between 1845 and 1862. Thompson later served as a Superintendent of Education of Greene County.

Leaf was a stop on the Mobile, Jackson and Kansas City Railroad, which later became the Illinois Central Railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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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On the map

Leaf on the map, 1947 to 2000

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

Leaf on the 1947 USGS mapLeaf on the 1982 USGS mapLeaf on the 2000 USGS map1947Beaumont 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 Leaf.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Leaf had its own post office from 1874 to 1886.

Leaf
1874–1886
18701950today
1cemetery inside Leaf
Leaf

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

Questions about Leaf’s history

What year was Leaf founded?

In 1838, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Leaf’s post office opened in 1874.

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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.