Founding year: the first Atwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Atwood’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Atwood is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Atwood’s overall grade.
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 Atwood’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Atwood’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
On December 14, 1883, a Petition was filed with W.H. Basset, county judge, and was signed by 30 local residents, most residing in Douglas County. This petition set forth a desire to become incorporated as the "village of Atwood", the population in the proposed territory was ~300 residents. On January 9, 1884, an election was held in the office of J.W Merritt, J.P. The election resulted in 66 votes for village organization, and 42 votes against village organization, total 128 votes.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Atwood. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1950Tuscola 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 Atwood.
People over time
Atwood, census by census
Between 212 and 1,464 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Atwood’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Atwood’s history
What year was Atwood founded?
The Atwood post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Atwood rank for history?
Atwood is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. 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 Atwood?
20% of Atwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (2), 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.
Date?
2007
