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C+History
History · Brookfield Township

Brookfield Township’s post office opened in 1850, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1980 on.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Brookfield Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Brookfield Township began

When was Brookfield Township founded?

1850

The Brookfield Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Brookfield (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,069176 years

How historic is Brookfield Township?

C+

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Brookfield Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Brookfield Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brookfield Township is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. 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 Brookfield Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1850, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194015.2% of homes (±14.2) · 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 35%
NewerOlder

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 Brookfield Township’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 is a Census survey estimate (±14.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Brookfield 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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brookfield Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewBrookfield Kindergarten, 3601 Forest Av…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Brookfield Township, in brief

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

Brookfield Township is located in LaSalle County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,069 and it contained 458 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1850. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,060 in 2010, 1,069 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Brookfield Township, 1850 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Brookfield post office opens
  3. 1850Post officeThe Brookfield post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1980On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Brookfield Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Brookfield Kindergarten, 3601 Forest AvenueDate?Brookfield Kindergarten, 3601 Forest Avenue
On the map

Brookfield Township on the map, 1980 to 1991

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

Brookfield Township on the 1980 USGS mapBrookfield Township on the 1991 USGS map1980Marseilles sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brookfield 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.

Brookfield Kindergarten, 3601 Forest Avenue
Retake this viewBrookfield Kindergarten, 3601 Forest Avenue

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Brookfield Township

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

See all →
Clyde TombaughAmerican astronomer · b. 1906
Terrence MalickAmerican film director and screenwriter · b. 1943
Bob McGrathAmerican actor · b. 1932
Maria KanellisAmerican professional wrestler, manager, actres… · b. 1982
J
Johnston McCulleyAmerican writer · b. 1883
Jerry WellerAmerican politician · b. 1957
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Brick SchoolschoolEgland FieldairportGorman SchoollocaleMarsatawa Country Clublocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Brookfield Township
HeglandMaxton and Woodside

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.

Manlius Township1 historic placeA−Marseilles2 historic placesASeneca1 historic placeBAllen Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrand Rapids TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Brookfield Township’s history

What year was Brookfield Township founded?

The Brookfield Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Brookfield Township rank for history?

Brookfield Township is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. 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 Brookfield Township?

15% of Brookfield Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±14.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 2000.

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 (1), 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.