Half of Burton Township’s homes were built after 1995
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #682 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Burton Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: maps from 1920 on and old-book passages.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Burton Township is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #682 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Burton Township’s overall grade.
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 Burton 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 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 (±3.1 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 Burton Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Burton Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1920Grays Lake 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 Burton Township.
The story so far
Burton Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Burton Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Burton Township is the smallest of 17 townships in McHenry County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,820 and it contained 1,858 housing units. Burton Township was first settled by Englishmen in 1836 who gave it the name English Prairie. Later settlers called the township Benton, but after learning that there already was a post office and township of Benton in southern Illinois, the name was changed to Burton on December 28, 1850. Burton Township is unusually small because its first residents broke from Richmond Township to its west. The reason for this was a "Hatfields vs. McCoys" type of feud in the 1840s over alleged township mismanagement and higher taxes in Richmond.…
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 5,003 to 4,820 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Burton Township in 1922
Passages that mention Burton Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of McHenry County, Illinois1922 · page 224Read the page →
Read the text
The last railroad to be built in McHenry County was the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paid, which enters the county in the southeastern part of Burton Township and runs in a northwesterly direction through Richmond and Hebron townships, with stations at Spring Grove, Solon Mills, and at a junction point where this road crosses Kenosha & Rockford division on section 11, Hebron Township. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St, Paul Railroad was built through this county in 1900 and furnishes an additional outlet for the freight of the county. Through
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In Burton Township a school was taught in 1846 by Miss <'ase. in the "red schoolhouse" in Section 8. Tt was buill by the patrons of the school and the teacher was paid on the subscription plan and usually "hoarded 'round." The first school, however, was taught in ISiili in a log building on Nippersink Creek, by Win. Stearns.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Burton Township is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #682 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 Burton Township?
4% of Burton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
