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Welcome to Wapella ...

The village of Wapella is located in De Witt County<1>.

The pronunciation of Wapella: wah-PEL-uh<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Wapella, you might consider that their post office opened in 1855.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Wapella has a population of 519 people<3> (see below for details).

Wapella is 740 feet [226 m] above sea level.<4>.

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

Area Codes for Wapella: 217 & 447<5>

The ZIP code for Wapella: 61777<6>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Wapella had an population of 519 people. This is a decrease of 6.99% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 20.28% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Wapella had a population of 558 people. This makes Wapella the county's 3rd most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 558 people, the population of Wapella decreased 14.29% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 651 people).

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

Communities Also Named Wapella ...

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

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

Communities near Wapella ...

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

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

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Wapella ...

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

Adding Wapella to Our Gazetteer ...

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

From that list, the Wapella post office opened in 1855.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Wapella.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including De Witt, 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 Wapella. 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 Wapella.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Wapella - 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 Wapella area will be assigned with one of these codes: 217 or 447. As a result, placing a call in the Wapella 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 Wapella). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Wapella 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/