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C+History
History · Benton Township

1 of Benton Township’s places is on the National Register

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #464 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Benton Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1906 on.

1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Benton Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Benton Township’s history

How historic is Benton Township?

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More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Benton Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Benton Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #464 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Benton Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19405.2% of homes (±2.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 0.5 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 40%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 40%

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 Benton Township’s 0.5 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. 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 Benton Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19065 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1993. Watch Benton Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Benton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Benton Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGeneral and Mrs. Logan's first cottage …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Benton Township on the map, 1906 to 1993

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

Benton Township on the 1906 USGS mapBenton Township on the 1960 USGS mapBenton Township on the 1972 USGS mapBenton Township on the 1980 USGS mapBenton Township on the 1993 USGS map1906Waukegan 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 Benton Township.

The story so far

Benton Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Benton Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Benton Township is a township in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and includes all of the village of Winthrop Harbor, most of the village of Beach Park, and small portions of the cities of Zion and Waukegan. As of the 2020 census, its population was 19,082. Zion Township was formed from Benton Township on September 12, 1930.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 18,951 in 2010, 19,082 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Benton Township, 1885 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885In the archiveGeneral and Mrs. Logan's first cottage at Benton, Illinois and the house in which their d…
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1915In the archiveOld Franklin County Court House, Illinois
  6. 1918Post officeThe Camp Logan post office opens
  7. 1918Post officeThe Camp Logan post office closes
By decade

Benton Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1910s2 items
General and Mrs. Logan's first cottage at Benton, Illinois and the house in which their daughter Mrs. Mary Logan Tucker…1885General and Mrs. Logan's first cottage at Benton, Ill…Old Franklin County Court House, Illinois1915Old Franklin County Court House, Illinois
1920s–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
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 and Mrs. Logan's first cottage at Benton, Illinois and the house in which their daughter Mrs. Mary Logan Tucker…
Retake this viewGeneral and Mrs. Logan's first cottage at Benton, Illinois and the house in which their daughter Mrs. Mary Logan Tucker…, 1885

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Benton Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Benton Township

Nobody well known was born in Benton Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Orson WellesAmerican actor and filmmaker · b. 1915
Gary ColemanAmerican actor · b. 1968
Don AmecheAmerican actor · b. 1908
Richard BullAmerican film, stage and television actor · b. 1924
B
Bert Ira GordonAmerican filmmaker · b. 1922
Nick Van ExelAmerican basketball coach and former player · b. 1971
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Camp Logan, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Camp Logan
Gone or out of use
Camp Saint Georgelocale

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Zion3 historic placesB−Zion Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBeach ParkIts storyC−Winthrop Harbor1 historic placeC+WadsworthIts storyCNewport Township1 historic placeB+Waukegan Township6 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Benton Township’s history

How does Benton Township rank for history?

Benton Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #464 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 Benton Township?

5% of Benton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1983.

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 the Library of Congress (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.