Welcome to Preston ...

Preston is located in Randolph County<1>.

The location of Preston has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

The pronunciation of Preston: PRES-tuhn<3>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Preston, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1853.

Preston is 460 feet [140 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Preston lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

The telephone area code for Preston: (618)

Communities Also Named Preston ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 46 communities that are also named Preston - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (2), Kentucky, Louisiana (2), Manitoba, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri (2), Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio (2), Oklahoma (2), Ontario, Pennsylvania (3), South Dakota, Tennessee (2), Texas (3), Virginia (2), Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Preston.

Communities near Preston ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Preston.

• Chester
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
  • Chester is located in Randolph County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,145 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chester <5>
• Sainte Genevieve
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sainte Genevieve have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sainte Genevieve
  • Sainte Genevieve is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,406 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sainte Genevieve <5>
• Sparta
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sparta have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparta
  • Sparta is located in Randolph County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,202 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sparta <5>
• Red Bud
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bud
  • Red Bud is located in Randolph County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,442 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Red Bud <5>
• Steeleville
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steeleville
  • Steeleville is located in Randolph County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,890 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Steeleville <5>
• New Athens
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Athens
  • New Athens is located in Saint Clair County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,865 people
• Marissa
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marissa
  • Marissa is located in Saint Clair County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,785 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marissa <5>
• Percy
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Percy
  • Percy is located in Randolph County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 910 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Percy <5>
• Coulterville
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coulterville
  • Coulterville is located in Randolph County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 880 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coulterville <5>
• Tilden
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tilden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilden
  • Tilden is located in Randolph County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 827 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tilden <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Preston. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Preston.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Preston. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Preston.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Preston. See our Newspapers Page for Preston.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Preston ...

Looking for more information about Preston? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Preston, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Preston.

Adding Preston to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Preston in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Preston was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Preston post office opened in 1853.

We also found Preston on a map (with an unknown title) dated 1870.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Preston.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Preston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov