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Welcome to Roots ...

Roots is located in Randolph County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Roots, you might consider that their post office opened in 1902.

Roots is 390 feet [119 m] above sea level.<2>.

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

Area Codes for Roots: 618 & 730<3>

Communities Also Named Roots ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 3 communities that are also named Roots - they are located in Iowa, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

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

Communities near Roots ...

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

  • Chester
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Sainte Genevieve
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Sparta
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Red Bud
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Steeleville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Marissa
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Marissa is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marissa
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,785 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marissa <4>
  • Percy
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Evansville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bloomsdale
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Bloomsdale is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomsdale
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 562 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bloomsdale <4>
  • Prairie du Rocher
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Prairie du Rocher is located in Randolph County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Rocher
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
    • Prairie du Rocher has also been known as:
    • Prairie du Rocher village
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prairie du Rocher <4>

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

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Roots ...

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

Adding Roots to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Roots 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 Roots was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Roots post office opened in 1902. The Roots post office closed in 1923.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Roots.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Randolph, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Roots - 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 618 code has been Overlayed with the 730 area code. New phone numbers in the Roots area will be assigned with one of these codes: 618 or 730. As a result, placing a call in the Roots 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/