The story
Read it all →How Coal City came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Coal City.
The community was named after the local coal mining industry.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Coal City
Coal City’s post office opened in 1930
Most of Coal City was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1914 on and the census since 2000.
1930first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Coal City began
When was Coal City founded?
1930
The Coal City post office opened in 1930, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Abney (1886) and Sullivan (1908), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,905 in 20002020 census: 1,68996 years
Founding year: the first Coal City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Coal City’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 Coal City are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Coal City, and 6 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19145 editions of the USGS map, 1914 to 1976. Watch Coal City change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Coal City’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Coal City’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Coal City’s post office has been open since 1930. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Abney
Sullivan
Coal City
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AbneyLillybrookLynwinnPrincewickSullivanWinding Gulf
Gone or out of use
Bower SchoolschoolStoco High Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Coal City on the map, 1914 to 1976
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coal City. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1914Flattop sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Coal City.
Timeline
Coal City, 1886 to 1977
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1886Post officeThe Abney post office opens
- 20th century
- 1908Post officeThe Sullivan post office opens
- 1914
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1930Post officeThe Coal City post office opens
- 1955Post officeThe Abney post office closes
- 1977Post officeThe Sullivan post office closes
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.
Add from your albumPeople over time
Coal City, census by census
Between 1,689 and 1,905 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Coal City’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Coal City
Nobody well known was born in Coal City itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Questions about Coal City’s history
What year was Coal City founded?
The Coal City post office opened in 1930, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, 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.