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History · Aroma Park

Aroma Park’s post office opened in 1915, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1922 on and the census since 1880.

1915first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Aroma Park began

When was Aroma Park founded?

1915

The Aroma Park post office opened in 1915, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Waldron (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 353 in 18802020 census: 664111 years
Founding year: the first Aroma Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Aroma Park’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Aroma Park are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 896 in 1970; 664 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19223 editions of the USGS map, 1922 to 1973. Watch Aroma Park change.Old housesHalf of Aroma Park’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Aroma Park’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Aroma Park’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Aroma Park, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 896

Peaked at 896 in 1970; 664 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the map

Aroma Park on the map, 1922 to 1973

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

Aroma Park on the 1922 USGS mapAroma Park on the 1964 USGS mapAroma Park on the 1973 USGS map1922Kankakee 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 Aroma Park.

The story

How Aroma Park came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Aroma Park.

Read it all →

In 1995, the Aroma Park Little League All-Stars won the state championship, becoming the smallest town ever to do so.

During the afternoon of March 10, 2026, a destructive EF3 tornado tracked through portions of the suburb, damaging and destroying numerous homes and killing one person in the area.

Chapters2026 tornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Aroma Park, 1871 to 1970

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Waldron post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1915Post officeThe Waldron post office closes
  5. 1915Post officeThe Aroma Park post office opens
  6. 1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1934Born hereLura Lynn Ryan is born here
  8. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 896
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Aroma Park’s post office has been open since 1915. Another post office, Waldron, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Waldron
1871–1915
Aroma Park
1915–today
18701950today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Aroma Park’s history

What year was Aroma Park founded?

The Aroma Park post office opened in 1915, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.