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Welcome to Melvin ...

The village of Melvin is located in Ford County<1>.

The pronunciation of Melvin: MEL-vin<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Melvin, you might consider that their post office opened in 1872.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Melvin has a population of 411 people<3> (see below for details).

Melvin is 800 feet [244 m] above sea level.<4>.

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

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

Area Codes for Melvin: 217 & 447<5>

The ZIP code for Melvin: 60952<6>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Melvin had an population of 411 people. This is a decrease of 9.07% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 11.61% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Melvin had a population of 452 people. This makes Melvin the county's 4th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 452 people, the population of Melvin decreased 2.8% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 465 people).

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

Communities Also Named Melvin ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 16 communities that are also named Melvin - they are located in Alabama (2), California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania and Texas.

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

Communities near Melvin ...

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

  • Rantoul
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Paxton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Fairbury
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Gibson City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Gibson City is located in Ford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibson City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,275 people
    • Gibson City has also been known as:
    • Gibson
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gibson City <7>
  • Fisher
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Fisher is located in Champaign County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,911 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fisher <7>
  • Gilman
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Onarga
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Forrest
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Chatsworth
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Colfax
    (19 miles [30.6 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 Melvin. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Melvin.

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Melvin ...

Looking for more information about Melvin? 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 Melvin, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Melvin.

Adding Melvin to Our Gazetteer ...

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

From that list, the Melvin post office opened in 1872.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Melvin.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Ford, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Melvin. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Melvin.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Melvin - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>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 Melvin area will be assigned with one of these codes: 217 or 447. As a result, placing a call in the Melvin area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<6>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 Melvin). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Melvin or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>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/