Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1841.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Batavia Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Batavia Township is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #197 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Batavia Township’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 Batavia Township’s 2.0 sits above most of its state (67% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 7 listings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.8 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1833.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Batavia Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Batavia was settled in 1833 by Christopher Payne and his family. Originally called Big Woods for the wild growth throughout the settlement, the town was renamed by local judge and former Congressman Isaac Wilson in 1840 after his former home of Batavia, New York, which was in turn named after the Batavian Republic, a short-lived republic that existed from 1795 to 1806 in the present-day Netherlands. Because Judge Wilson owned the majority of the town, he was given permission to rename it.
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.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Batavia Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1932Geneva 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 Batavia 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.
Retake this viewBird's eye view of Batavia, Kane County, Illinois, 1869, 1869
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Batavia Township’s page.
In 1833, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Batavia Township’s post office opened in 1841, and the census of 1860 counted 1,622 people here.
How does Batavia Township rank for history?
Batavia Township is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #197 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 Batavia Township?
13% of Batavia Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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