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BHistory
History · Algonquin Township

Algonquin Township’s post office opened in 1847, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns · #336 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Algonquin Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1925 on, and the census since 1880.

1847first post office
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Algonquin Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Algonquin Township began

When was Algonquin Township founded?

1847

The Algonquin Township post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1890.

First census: 286 in 18802020 census: 87,633179 years

How historic is Algonquin Township?

B

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Algonquin Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1890.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Algonquin Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Algonquin Township is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #336 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Algonquin Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1847, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19406.6% of homes (±1.2) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 0.1 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 59%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 56%

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Algonquin Township’s 0.1 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1890.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Algonquin Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages5 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1847: 179 years of Algonquin Township.On the map since 19256 editions of the USGS map, 1925 to 1992. Watch Algonquin Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Algonquin Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Algonquin Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewVelieHillClimbingContestStickney: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Camp AlgonquinCrystal ManorHaegers BendSilver LakeTurner Camp
Gone or out of use
McManaman SchoolschoolSouth Prairie Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Algonquin Township
Windridge

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Algonquin Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Algonquin Township.

Read it all →

Long before Europeans settled in Algonquin, the Potawatomi originally inhabited the land. Algonquin was the location of Indian burial mounds known in the 1800s as the Algonquin Mounds. By 1834 the first settler of Algonquin, Samuel Gillilan, came to the area from Virginia. Settlers Dr. Cornish, Dr. Plumleigh, Eli Henderson, Alex Dawson, and William Jackson arrived shortly thereafter. There was some dispute regarding the original name of Algonquin, and numerous other names were suggested including Denny's Ferry, Cornish Ferry, Cornishville, and Osceola. But Samuel Edwards suggested the name Algonquin and on December 23, 1847, the name Algonquin became official.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Algonquin Township in 1922

Passages that mention Algonquin Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

VILLAGE OF CARY Cary in the northeast quarter of section 13 of Algonquin Township is a station point on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad and the first southeast of Crystal Lake. It was laid out June 7, 1856, by William D.
History of McHenry County, Illinois1922 · page 366Read the page →
Read the text

VILLAGE OF CARY Cary in the northeast quarter of section 13 of Algonquin Township is a station point on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad and the first southeast of Crystal Lake. It was laid out June 7, 1856, by William D.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ALGONQUIN Benjamin Douglas and Colonel Hoffman built the first saw-mill in Algonquin Township in 1839, and it was located on Crystal Lake. In 1842 A. Dawson built a mill in the village of Algonquin. Another mill
History of McHenry County, Illinois1922 · page 231Read the page →
Read the text

ALGONQUIN Benjamin Douglas and Colonel Hoffman built the first saw-mill in Algonquin Township in 1839, and it was located on Crystal Lake. In 1842 A. Dawson built a mill in the village of Algonquin. Another mill

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Algonquin Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
VelieHillClimbingContestStickney1910VelieHillClimbingContestStickney
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today11 recent
Prairie Trail south crossing under IL 31 - Algonquin, IL - July 20242024Prairie Trail south crossing under IL 31 - Algonquin,…Prairie Trail north crossing under IL 31 - Algonquin, IL - July 20242024Prairie Trail north crossing under IL 31 - Algonquin,…Prairie Trail and IL 31 at Main St - Algonquin, IL - July 20242024Prairie Trail and IL 31 at Main St - Algonquin, IL - …Longmeadow Parkway bridge south view (July 2024)2024Longmeadow Parkway bridge south view (July 2024)Longmeadow Parkway bridge north view (July 2024)2024Longmeadow Parkway bridge north view (July 2024)Port Edwards Seafood Restaurant Outdoor Seating2014Port Edwards Seafood Restaurant Outdoor SeatingBoating Fox River2012Boating Fox RiverAlgonquin Township, IL, USA2012Algonquin Township, IL, USAAlgonquin, IL - River Road2010Algonquin, IL - River RoadUS-IL-Chicagoland-Algonquin2006US-IL-Chicagoland-AlgonquinILMap-doton-Algonquin2005ILMap-doton-Algonquin
On the map

Algonquin Township on the map, 1925 to 1992

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Algonquin Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Algonquin Township on the 1925 USGS mapAlgonquin Township on the 1940 USGS mapAlgonquin Township on the 1962 USGS mapAlgonquin Township on the 1972 USGS mapAlgonquin Township on the 1980 USGS mapAlgonquin Township on the 1992 USGS map1925Elgin sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Algonquin Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

VelieHillClimbingContestStickney
Retake this viewVelieHillClimbingContestStickney, 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Algonquin Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Algonquin Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Algonquin Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 30,046

Between 286 and 30,046 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Algonquin Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Nunda Township3 historic placesB−Dundee Township2 historic placesA−Cuba Township4 historic placesBOakwood HillsIts storyD−Port BarringtonIts storyDGrafton TownshipIts storyD

Questions about Algonquin Township’s history

What year was Algonquin Township founded?

The Algonquin Township post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1890.

How does Algonquin Township rank for history?

Algonquin Township is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #336 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Algonquin Township?

7% of Algonquin Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1985.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.