The story
Read it all →How Byron came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Byron.
The city that is now Byron was founded when a settler rode through the area on his way from Galena to Midway.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Byron
Byron dates to 1835, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #267 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Soldier's Monument. Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1890.
1835founded
1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Quick answers
How Byron began
When was Byron founded?
1835
Byron dates its founding to 1835 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.
First census: 698 in 18902020 census: 3,784191 years
How historic is Byron?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1838.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Byron’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Byron is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #267 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Byron’s overall grade.
Founding era1835, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194010.4% of homes (±5.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 2.7 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 69%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 65%
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 Byron’s 2.7 sits above most of its state (69% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). Two sources give 1835.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Byron’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Byron’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Byron’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Every building
Byron, building by building, 1893–1904
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 year, then a sheet.
1893Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Byron, 1835 to 1972
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1835FoundingByron is established
- 1838Post officeThe Byron post office opens
- 1840
Born hereEdward B. Spalding is born here - 1850
Born hereAlbert Spalding is born here - 1889
Born hereFrancis Kosier Newcomer is born here - 20th century
- 1922
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1972Born hereTroy Drake is born here
From the old history books
What they wrote about Byron, 1859–1900
Passages that mention Byron, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Sketches of the history of Ogle County, Ill., and the early settlement of the Northwest1859 · page 56Read the page →
Read the text
The town of Byron, which was early called Bloomingville, was first settled in 1835. Jared Sanford came from the "Military Tract" in the month of June, in that year. On arriving at Kockford, by his pleasant story of the country through which he had passed, and especially of a mill site he had found near
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mount Morris1900 · page 291Read the page →
Read the text
He also had a branch in Byron for one year. After selling his Leaf River and Byron shops, he moved to Rockford, and conducted a shop there for one and a half years. In 1895 Mr. Marshall purchased his present farm, north of town, of Daniel Smith, and in 1897 established the milk route in Mount Morris, which
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
Byron, decade by decade
Today18 recent
2007Illinois Route 2 & 72 Byron, Illinois 01
2007Byron, Illinois Park Flooded P1
2007Byron, Illinois Park Flooded 04
2007Byron, Illinois Park Flooded 03
2007Byron, Illinois Park Flooded 02
2007Byron, Illinois Park Flooded 01
2007Byron, Illinois Flooded Businesses 04
2007Byron, Illinois Flooded Businesses 03
2007Byron, Illinois Flooded Businesses 02
2007Byron, Illinois Flooded Businesses 01
2007Byron, Illinois Flooded Boat Launch P1
2007Byron, Illinois Flooded Boat Launch 03
2007Byron, Illinois Flooded Boat Launch 02
2007Byron, Illinois Flooded Boat Launch 01
2007Byron, IL Post Office 03
2007Byron, IL Kathryn A. Hamas Park
2007Byron, IL City Hall
2000DME freight train inOn the map
Byron on the map, 1922 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Byron. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1922Oregon sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Byron.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Byron
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
first listed
1985
Soldier's Monument
Objects
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Byron, census by census
Grew from 698 people in 1890 to 3,784 in 2020, 5 times over.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Byron’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →5 famous people were born in Byron
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
T
Troy DrakeAmerican football player · b. 1972T
Tom BilleterAmerican college basketball coach · b. 1961Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Byron’s post office has been open since 1838.
Gone or out of use
Byron Quarrymine
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Byron
ByronSaint Mary's
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Byron’s history
What year was Byron founded?
In 1835, according to Wikidata. Byron’s post office opened in 1838, and the census of 1890 counted 698 people here.
How does Byron rank for history?
Byron is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #267 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.
What is on the National Register in Byron?
One place: the Soldier's Monument (listed 1985).
How old are the homes in Byron?
10% of Byron’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1987.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.