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History · Lilesville

Lilesville’s post office opened in 1827, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1880.

1827first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lilesville began

When was Lilesville founded?

1827

The Lilesville post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 192 in 18802020 census: 395199 years
Founding year: the first Lilesville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lilesville’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 Lilesville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 641 in 1970; 395 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1827: 199 years of Lilesville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lilesville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lilesville’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
People over time

Lilesville, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 641

Peaked at 641 in 1970; 395 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Lilesville, 1827 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1827Post officeThe Lilesville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1938Born hereDrew P. Saunders is born here
  5. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 641
The story

How Lilesville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lilesville.

Read it all →

A post office called Lilesville has been in operation since 1827. The town was named for an early merchant.

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

Lilesville on the map, 1956 to 1982

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

Lilesville on the 1956 USGS mapLilesville on the 1976 USGS mapLilesville on the 1982 USGS map1956Lilesville 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 Lilesville.

Questions about Lilesville’s history

What year was Lilesville founded?

The Lilesville post office opened in 1827, 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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.