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C−History
History · Bensenville

Bensenville’s post office opened in 1873

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #611 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Bensenville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: 22 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1880.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
22old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bensenville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bensenville began

When was Bensenville founded?

1873

The Bensenville post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1884.

First census: 136 in 18802020 census: 18,813153 years

How historic is Bensenville?

C−

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Bensenville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1884.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Bensenville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bensenville is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #611 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bensenville’s overall grade.
Founding era1873, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.1% of homes (±1.6) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 20%

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 Bensenville’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 C. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1884 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Bensenville’s past

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

A town in old photos22 old photos, postcards and papers.On the map since 18918 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1993. Watch Bensenville change.
★ What stands out · By decade

Bensenville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s8 items
General view of part of the Bensenville freight yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad1939General view of part of the Bensenville freight yard …Track repair work at the Bensenville yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad1939Track repair work at the Bensenville yard of the Chic…Cleaning an engine near the roundhouse, C. M. St. P. & P. R.R1939Cleaning an engine near the roundhouse, C. M. St. P. …C. M. St. P. & P. R.R., general view of part of the yard1939C. M. St. P. & P. R.R., general view of part of the y…Section crew at work on the track, C. M. St. P. & P. R.R1939Section crew at work on the track, C. M. St. P. & P. …Section crew of the [Chicago], Milwaukee [St. Paul and Pacific] R.R. at work1939Section crew of the [Chicago], Milwaukee [St. Paul an…C. M. St. P. & P. R.R., general view of part of the yard1939C. M. St. P. & P. R.R., general view of part of the y…C. M. St. P. & P. R.R., general view of part of the yard1939C. M. St. P. & P. R.R., general view of part of the y…
1940s14 items
Midwest Hiawatha 19431943Midwest Hiawatha 1943Bensenville, Illinois. The "Midwest Hiawatha" of the Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad speeding throu…1943Bensenville, Illinois. The "Midwest Hiawatha" of the …Bensenville, Illinois. Switching operations1943Bensenville, Illinois. Switching operationsBensenville, Illinois. Switching operations1943Bensenville, Illinois. Switching operationsBensenville, Illinois. Gandy-dancer crew working1943Bensenville, Illinois. Gandy-dancer crew workingBensenville, Illinois. Track repair work at the Bensenville yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul and Pacific Rail…1943Bensenville, Illinois. Track repair work at the Bense…Bensenville, Illinois. Track repair work at the Bensenville yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul and Pacific Rail…1943Bensenville, Illinois. Track repair work at the Bense…Bensenville, Illinois. General view of part of the Bensenville yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul and Pacific R…1943Bensenville, Illinois. General view of part of the Be…Bensenville, Illinois. General view of part of the Bensenville yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul and Pacific R…1943Bensenville, Illinois. General view of part of the Be…Bensenville, Illinois. General view of part of the Bensenville yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul and Pacific R…1943Bensenville, Illinois. General view of part of the Be…Bensenville, Illinois. General view of part of the Bensenville freight yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul and P…1943Bensenville, Illinois. General view of part of the Be…Bensenville, Illinois. A redball west coast freight train leaving the Bensenville yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint…1943Bensenville, Illinois. A redball west coast freight t…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Bensenville, Illinois. A redball west coast freight train leaving the Bensenville …1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Bensenville, Ill…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Bensenville, Illinois. A redball west coast freight train leaving the Bensenville …1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Bensenville, Ill…
1950s–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
On the map

Bensenville on the map, 1891 to 1993

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

Bensenville on the 1891 USGS mapBensenville on the 1900 USGS mapBensenville on the 1928 USGS mapBensenville on the 1953 USGS mapBensenville on the 1963 USGS mapBensenville on the 1972 USGS mapBensenville on the 1981 USGS mapBensenville on the 1993 USGS map1891Riverside 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 Bensenville.

The story

How Bensenville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bensenville.

Read it all →

The Barker-Karpis Gang used a house on May Street to hide kidnap victims William Hamm Jr. in 1933 and Edward Bremer in 1934, who they had kidnapped from Saint Paul, Minnesota.

In 2007, homes and businesses were acquired by the City of Chicago for its O'Hare Modernization Program.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bensenville, 1873 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Bensenville post office opens
  3. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1939In the archiveGeneral view of part of the Bensenville freight yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul …
  6. 1943In the archiveMidwest Hiawatha 1943
Every building

Bensenville, building by building, 1926

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Bensenville fire insurance map, 1926, sheet 11926Sheet 1 of 4
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

General view of part of the Bensenville freight yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
Retake this viewGeneral view of part of the Bensenville freight yard of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, 1939

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Bensenville, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 20,703

Between 136 and 20,703 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Bensenville’s post office has been open since 1873.

Gone or out of use
First Evangelical ChurchchurchLincoln SchoolschoolMohawk Country Clublocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bensenville
FriedensZion

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

Help out

Finish Bensenville’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGeneral view of part of the Bensenville…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Wood DaleIts storyC−Elk Grove VillageIts storyDAddison Township1 historic placeBChicago407 historic placesA+Franklin ParkIts storyC

Questions about Bensenville’s history

What year was Bensenville founded?

The Bensenville post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1884.

How does Bensenville rank for history?

Bensenville is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #611 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 Bensenville?

5% of Bensenville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1970.

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 (1), the Library of Congress (21), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.