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Water tower with smiley in Calumet City, IllinoisPhoto: vxla · CC BY 2.0
C−History
History · Calumet City

Calumet City was first counted by the census in 1900, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #636 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1900.

1900first census
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Calumet City’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Calumet City began

When was Calumet City founded?

1900

Calumet City first appears in the census in 1900. Another post office, Globe (1880), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 2,935 in 19002020 census: 36,033126 years

How historic is Calumet City?

C−

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Calumet City’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Calumet City is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #636 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Calumet City’s overall grade.
Founding era1900, from the first census: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194011.9% of homes (±2.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%B−National 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 20%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 17%

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 Calumet City’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 D to C. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: the first census (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 Calumet City’s past

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

On the map since 18928 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1991. Watch Calumet City change.A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1909–1943.
★ What stands out · On the map

Calumet City on the map, 1892 to 1991

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

Calumet City on the 1892 USGS mapCalumet City on the 1900 USGS mapCalumet City on the 1929 USGS mapCalumet City on the 1953 USGS mapCalumet City on the 1960 USGS mapCalumet City on the 1973 USGS mapCalumet City on the 1980 USGS mapCalumet City on the 1991 USGS map1892Calumet 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 Calumet City.

By decade

Calumet City, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1940s18 items
Virginia Brooks in court ichicdn n059485c. 1909Virginia Brooks in court ichicdn n059485Vice squad interrogation in Calumet City 1912 ichicdn n0594511912Vice squad interrogation in Calumet City 1912 ichicdn…Indiana Harbor Belt R.R., switch engine in yard near Calumet Park stockyards, Calumet City (near Chicago), Ill1943Indiana Harbor Belt R.R., switch engine in yard near …Indiana Harbor Belt RR, switch engine in yard near Calumet park stockyards, Calumet City (near Chicago), Ill1943Indiana Harbor Belt RR, switch engine in yard near Ca…Indiana Harbor Belt RR, switchman demonstrating signal with a fusee 1a34694v1943Indiana Harbor Belt RR, switchman demonstrating signa…Indiana Harbor Belt RR, switchman demonstrating signal with a fusee 1a34695v1943Indiana Harbor Belt RR, switchman demonstrating signa…Indiana Harbor Belt RR, switchman demonstrating signalwith a fusee 1a34693v1943Indiana Harbor Belt RR, switchman demonstrating signa…Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad switchman signaling "stop", Calumet City, Illinois, 19431943Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad switchman signaling "sto…Switch engine in yard near Calumet Park stockyards, Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad. Calumet City, Illinois, January 19431943Switch engine in yard near Calumet Park stockyards, I…Switchman1943SwitchmanCalumet City, Illinois. Loading cattle at Calumet Park stockyards1943Calumet City, Illinois. Loading cattle at Calumet Par…Calumet City, Illinois. Unloading horses at the Calumet Park stockyards1943Calumet City, Illinois. Unloading horses at the Calum…Calumet City, Illinois. Unloading horses at the Calumet Park stockyards1943Calumet City, Illinois. Unloading horses at the Calum…Calumet City, Illinois. Loading sheep at the Calumet Park stockyards1943Calumet City, Illinois. Loading sheep at the Calumet …Calumet City, Illinois. Loading sheep at the Calumet Park stockyards1943Calumet City, Illinois. Loading sheep at the Calumet …Calumet City, Illinois. Loading sheep at the Calumet Park stockyards1943Calumet City, Illinois. Loading sheep at the Calumet …Calumet City, Illinois. Loading sheep at the Calumet Park stockyards1943Calumet City, Illinois. Loading sheep at the Calumet …Calumet City, Illinois. Loading sheep at the Calumet Park stockyards1943Calumet City, Illinois. Loading sheep at the Calumet …
1950s–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
The story

How Calumet City came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Calumet City.

Read it all →

Calumet City (commonly referred to locally as "Cal City") was founded in 1893 when the villages of Schrumville and Sobieski Park merged under the name of West Hammond, since it lies on the west side of the Illinois-Indiana line from Hammond, Indiana.

In 1916, when alcohol was prohibited in Indiana, West Hammond became a preferred location for drinkers coming from northwest Indiana. Bootleggers including Al Capone built on this basis once the Prohibition era arrived, and West Hammond gained the nickname of "Sin City".

West Hammond became known for illegal alcohol consumption, gambling, and prostitution. In 1923, residents wishing to rid the city of its reputation voted to change the name from West Hammond to Calumet City.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Calumet City, 1880 to 1995

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Globe post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Globe post office closes
  4. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1909In the archiveVirginia Brooks in court ichicdn n059485
  7. 1912In the archiveVice squad interrogation in Calumet City 1912 ichicdn n059451
  8. 1916Born hereFrank Grigonis is born here
  9. 1924Post officeThe Calumet City post office opens
  10. 1943In the archiveIndiana Harbor Belt R.R., switch engine in yard near Calumet Park stockyards, Calumet Cit…
  11. 1962Born hereMike Tomczak is born here
  12. 1963Born hereJoey Gutierrez is born here
  13. 1995Born hereTink is born here
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.

Virginia Brooks in court ichicdn n059485
Retake this viewVirginia Brooks in court ichicdn n059485, c. 1909

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Calumet City, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 39,697

Between 2,935 and 39,697 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Calumet City

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
TinkAmerican rapper and singer · b. 1995
M
Mike TomczakAmerican football player · b. 1962
F
Frank Grigonisb. 1916
J
Joey GutierrezAmerican television writer and producer · b. 1963
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Calumet City’s post office has been open since 1924. Another post office, Globe, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Globe
1880–1881
Calumet City
1924–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
GlobeSchrum
Gone or out of use
Globe SchoolschoolOur Lady of Knock SchoolschoolSaint Andrew the Apostle SchoolschoolSaint Victors Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Calumet City
Holy Cross Catholic

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

Help out

Finish Calumet City’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewVirginia Brooks in court ichicdn n059485: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lansing1 historic placeC+South HollandIts storyC+BurnhamIts storyC−DoltonIts storyC−

Questions about Calumet City’s history

What year was Calumet City founded?

The Calumet City post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Calumet City rank for history?

Calumet City is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #636 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 Calumet City?

12% of Calumet City’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 1966.

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 (10), the Library of Congress (8), 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) 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.