Welcome to Charleston ...
The city of Charleston is located in Coles County<1> and is the County Seat for Coles County.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Charleston, you might consider that their post office opened in 1843.
When the people of Charleston refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Charlestonian<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Charleston has a population of 20,176 people<3> (see below for details).
Charleston is 690 feet [210 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Charleston lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Note: If you travel east from Charleston (for example, toward West Terre Haute (IN)), you will leave Central Time and cross into the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT).
Charleston is within the (217) area code.
The ZIP code for Charleston: 61920<5>
Websites for Charleston ...
Official Website: www.charlestonillinois.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Charleston had an population of 20,176 people. This is a decrease of 7.61% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 4.1% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Charleston had a population of 21,838 people (which is 40.54% of the total population of Coles County). This makes Charleston the county's most populous community.
The population of Charleston represents 0.17% of the population of Illinois (which has 12,830,632 people), making it the state's 116th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 21,838 people, the population of Charleston increased 3.8% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 21,039 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Charleston.
Communities Also Named Charleston ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 44 communities that are also named Charleston - they are located in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas (3), Kentucky (2), Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri (2), Nebraska, Nevada (2), New Brunswick, New Jersey, New York (2), Newfoundland and Labrador, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio (4), Oklahoma, Ontario (3), Oregon, Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina, Tennessee (2), Texas (2), Utah, Washington and West Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Charleston.
Communities near Charleston ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Charleston.
- Mattoon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattoon
- Mattoon is located in Coles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,513 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mattoon <6>
- Arcola
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcola
- Arcola is located in Douglas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,838 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arcola <6>
- Casey
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casey
- Casey is located in Clark County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,585 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Casey <6>
- Neoga
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Neoga have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- 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>
- Greenup
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenup
- Greenup is located in Cumberland County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,474 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenup <6>
- Toledo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- 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>
- Martinsville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martinsville have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
- Martinsville is located in Clark County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,076 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Martinsville <6>
- Oakland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakland have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Oakland is located in Coles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 845 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakland <6>
- Ashmore
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashmore have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashmore
- Ashmore is located in Coles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 740 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ashmore <6>
- Kansas
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kansas have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kansas
- Kansas is located in Edgar County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 707 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kansas <6>
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 Charleston. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Charleston.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Charleston. 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 Charleston.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Charleston. Our list includes 40 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Charleston.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Charleston ...
Looking for more information about Charleston? 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 Charleston, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Charleston.
Adding Charleston to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Charleston 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 Charleston was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>
From that list, the Charleston post office opened in 1843.
We also found Charleston in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Charleston.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Charleston: www.charlestonillinois.org/
The official website for Coles County: www.co.coles.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Coles, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Charleston refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Charleston may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Charleston. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Charleston - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <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 city (such as Charleston). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Charleston 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/ |