A post office operated under the name Ayres from 1891 to 1908 and under the name Zama from 1918 to 1964. Zama is named for a daughter of one of the community's founders. The first school building in Zama was constructed in 1907. The school was replaced in 1949 by a building designed by
Edgar Lucian Malvaney. The community was once home to two hotels, a railroad depot, jail, bank, and multiple churches. The
National Youth Administration assisted in constructing a vocational building and gymnasium in Zama in 1937 and 1938. The W. P. Brown & Sons Lumber Company operated a band
saw mill in Zama. The company maintained a railroad, the Kosciusko & Southeastern Railroad, which connected Zama to the
Illinois Central Railroad in
Kosciusko. The mill closed in 1931. On April 27, 2011, a tornado hit the Zama area as part of the
2011 Super Outbreak, causing heavy tree and power line damage. The tornado was rated
EF1, with estimated wind speeds of . The tornado destroyed a barn in its path of destruction of wide as it travelled a path of . ==References==