Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #590 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1910.
Bellwood dates its founding to 1900 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bellwood is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #590 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Bellwood’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.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bellwood’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bellwood. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bellwood.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bellwood.
Bellwood was incorporated on May 21, 1900. The municipality took its name from one of the village's early subdivisions, "Bellewood". However, in later years, the final "e" was dropped.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveIL 77 I90 NARA 1961 184
Born hereDemetri McCamey is born here
Born hereRobert Covington is born here
Born hereAntonio Morrison is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bellwood’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 943 and 22,096 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bellwood’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Bellwood’s post office has been open since 1904. Another post office, Bellewood, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1900, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bellwood’s post office opened in 1893, and the census of 1910 counted 943 people here.
Bellwood is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #590 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.
17% of Bellwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1955.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (5), 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.
1961
2023
2022
2009