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C+History
History · Berkeley

17% of Berkeley’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #453 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1930.

0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Berkeley’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Berkeley’s history

How historic is Berkeley?

C+

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Berkeley’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Berkeley is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #453 of 768 in Illinois. 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 Berkeley’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194017.3% of homes (±9.4) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%BNational 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 42%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 41%

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 Berkeley’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.4 points).

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 Berkeley’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18918 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1993. Watch Berkeley change.Old housesHalf of Berkeley’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Berkeley’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCNW 5028B (E8A) in Berkeley, IL on Janu…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Berkeley on the map, 1891 to 1993

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

Berkeley on the 1891 USGS mapBerkeley on the 1900 USGS mapBerkeley on the 1928 USGS mapBerkeley on the 1953 USGS mapBerkeley on the 1963 USGS mapBerkeley on the 1972 USGS mapBerkeley on the 1981 USGS mapBerkeley 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 Berkeley.

The story

How Berkeley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Berkeley.

Read it all →

Farmers, mostly of German and Dutch heritage, began to settle in the region that would become Berkeley around 1835. The Dutch sought to be truck farmers, dwelling on farms spanning from 40 to 160 acres, whereas the Germans conducted general farming. In 1848, a small group of farm families founded Sunnyside, a one-room school. Sunnyside Elementary School is still in operation today, however it is now located in a bigger and newer structure.

Farmland was provided for what is now known as Old Settler's Cemetery a short distance west on St. Charles Road (which was finished in 1836). Many of the area's earliest settlers remain buried there.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Berkeley, 1891 to 1996

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1979In the archiveCNW 5028B (E8A) in Berkeley, IL on January 1979
  5. 1996In the archive19960831 02 UP Proviso
By decade

Berkeley, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1970s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s–1990s4 items
CNW 5028B (E8A) in Berkeley, IL on January 19791979CNW 5028B (E8A) in Berkeley, IL on January 1979CNW 5028B E8A Berkeley, IL January 19791979CNW 5028B E8A Berkeley, IL January 197919960831 02 UP Proviso199619960831 02 UP Proviso19960831 03 UP Proviso199619960831 03 UP Proviso
Today13 recent
I-290 east at I-294 overpass (2) - Berkeley, IL - March 20262026I-290 east at I-294 overpass (2) - Berkeley, IL - Mar…I-290 east at I-294 overpass (1) - Berkeley, IL - March 20262026I-290 east at I-294 overpass (1) - Berkeley, IL - Mar…I-290 east and I-294 southbound ramp (3) - Berkeley, IL - March 20262026I-290 east and I-294 southbound ramp (3) - Berkeley, …I-290 east and I-294 southbound ramp (2) - Elmhurst-Berkeley, IL - March 20262026I-290 east and I-294 southbound ramp (2) - Elmhurst-B…I-290 east and I-294 southbound ramp (1) - Elmhurst-Berkeley, IL - March 20262026I-290 east and I-294 southbound ramp (1) - Elmhurst-B…Norfolk Southern Conrail Heritage Unit ES44AC August 20252025Norfolk Southern Conrail Heritage Unit ES44AC August …Meeting up2025Meeting upIPP Main Stem at I-290 and I-294 - Berkeley, IL - July 20232023IPP Main Stem at I-290 and I-294 - Berkeley, IL - Jul…IPP Main Stem at I-290 and I-294 (2) - Berkeley, IL - July 20232023IPP Main Stem at I-290 and I-294 (2) - Berkeley, IL -…Chicago - panoramio (14)2012Chicago - panoramio (14)Berkeley-UP W2010Berkeley-UP WBerkeley IL 2009 reference map2009Berkeley IL 2009 reference mapMapUS-IL-Chicagoland-Berkeley2005US-IL-Chicagoland-Berkeley
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.

CNW 5028B (E8A) in Berkeley, IL on January 1979
Retake this viewCNW 5028B (E8A) in Berkeley, IL on January 1979, 1979

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Berkeley, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,50019401960198020002020Peak: 6,152

Between 724 and 6,152 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Berkeley

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

See all →
Kathryn HahnAmerican actress · b. 1973
Fred RamsdellAmerican immunologist · b. 1960
Walter Burley GriffinAmerican architect and landscape architect · b. 1876
Mary Elizabeth MastrantonioAmerican actress · b. 1958
Dennis FranzAmerican actor · b. 1944
Michael FinleyAmerican basketball player · b. 1973
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

HillsideIts storyCBellwoodIts storyC−NorthlakeIts storyDMelrose ParkIts storyB−Proviso Township20 historic placesA−York Township13 historic placesB+Elmhurst6 historic placesB

Questions about Berkeley’s history

How does Berkeley rank for history?

Berkeley is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #453 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 Berkeley?

17% of Berkeley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1955.

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 (17), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.