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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Gilchrist ...

Gilchrist is located in Mercer County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Gilchrist, you might consider that their post office opened in 1886.

Gilchrist is 780 feet [238 m] above sea level.<2>.

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

Area Codes for Gilchrist: 309 & 861<3>

Communities Also Named Gilchrist ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Illinois communities named Gilchrist: This one is located in Mercer County and the other is located in Fulton County.

Beyond Illinois, there are 12 communities that are also named Gilchrist - they are located in Arkansas, Florida (2), Michigan (2), Minnesota, Nebraska, Ontario, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas.

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

Communities near Gilchrist ...

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

  • Milan
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Coal Valley
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Aledo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Orion
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Buffalo
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Buffalo is located in Scott County (IA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,257 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buffalo <4>
  • Andalusia
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Alexis
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Woodhull
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Windsor
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Windsor is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 760 people
  • Matherville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)

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

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Gilchrist ...

Looking for more information about Gilchrist? 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 Gilchrist, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Gilchrist.

Adding Gilchrist to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Gilchrist 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 (so far) for Gilchrist was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Gilchrist post office opened in 1886. The Gilchrist post office closed in 1912.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Gilchrist.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Mercer, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Gilchrist - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>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 309 code has been Overlayed with the 861 area code. New phone numbers in the Gilchrist area will be assigned with one of these codes: 309 or 861. As a result, placing a call in the Gilchrist area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

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