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Welcome to Gays ...

The village of Gays is located in Moultrie County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Gays, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1882.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Gays has a population of 253 people<2> (see below for details).

Gays is 750 feet [229 m] above sea level.<3>.

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

Note: If you travel east from Gays (for example, toward West Terre Haute (IN)), you will leave Central Time and cross into the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT).

Area Codes for Gays: 217 & 447<4>

The ZIP code for Gays: 61928<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Gays had an population of 253 people. This is a decrease of 9.96% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 2.32% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Gays had a population of 281 people. This makes Gays the county's 5th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 281 people, the population of Gays increased 8.49% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 259 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Gays.

Communities Also Named Gays ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found another community named Gays - it's located in Virginia.

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

Communities near Gays ...

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

  • Charleston
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Mattoon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Shelbyville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Sullivan
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Arcola
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Arthur
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Neoga
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neoga
    • Neoga is located in Cumberland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,585 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Neoga <6>
  • Bethany
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bethany have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
    • Bethany is located in Moultrie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,210 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bethany <6>
  • Toledo
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toledo have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toledo
    • Toledo is located in Cumberland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,185 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Toledo <6>
  • Windsor
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)

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 Gays. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Gays.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Gays. 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 Gays.

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Gays ...

Looking for more information about Gays? 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.

In addition to the Tourism page for Gays, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Gays.

Adding Gays to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Gays 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 Gays was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

From that list, the Gays post office opened in 1882.

We also found Gays in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Gays.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Moultrie, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Gays.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Gays - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 217 code has been Overlayed with the 447 area code. New phone numbers in the Gays area will be assigned with one of these codes: 217 or 447. As a result, placing a call in the Gays area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a village (such as Gays). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Gays or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/